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POPULAR HISTORY

THE BRITISH NAVY

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT.

W. H. G. KINGSTON.

^forig SSoobmla.

GALL & INGLIS.

6 GEORGE STREET.

25 PATERNOSTER SQUARE.

<, '

PREFACE,

'4,NY Histories of the Battles of the British
Navy exist. I am unacquainted, however,
with any work in a compendious form which
gives an account of the Navy itself — its rise
and progress — the changes in the mode of
building and rigging ships, and in the guns and other
engines of war — the manners and customs of its seamen
— the Arctic and other exploring expeditions performed by
its officers and men, together with its present condition
and future prospects. To supply this want has therefore
been my object in writing the following pages. I have
endeavoured to make the volume acceptable to all classec
of the community, to enable those who know but little
about the matter to obtain a general view of the Navy,
and the important services it has rendered to the country
in past and present times, and to refresh the memory
of others who may have read larger works on the subject.
The book is also especially intended for the amusement
and instruction of the rising generation — on shore as well
as on board the •traming-sliips,"Df which we have happily
no small number ; and I trust may have many more ; and
it will, I hope, be read with interest by our gallant Blue-
jackets, serving both in the Royal Navy and in Mercantile
Marine.

My aim has been to show what tbe Navy was, and what
it is ; and though iron has superseded wood, and we can no
longer sing, " Hearts of oak are our ships," yet we may with
as much truth as ever assert that " gallant tars are our

VI PREFACE.

men," only very greatly improved in many important
respects since these heart-stirring lines were written.

I have, in the latter portion, been greatly assisted by
Captain Silverlock, of the Royal Navy, who, having quite
recently served afloat, has been able to give me the
benefit of his knowledge and experience. The Battle
of the Future, and other illustrations, were also sketched
by him. From an old Warrant Officer I obtained several
of the amusing anecdotes which have been introduced.

I am indebted to the courtesy of the Secretary of the
United Service Institution for the permission granted to
Mr. J. Cooper to make the engraving of the celebrated
picture of the Battle of Trafalgar, which appears among
the illustrations; and also to the kindness of .Messrs. Griffin,
the well-known Naval Publishers of Portsea, for leave to
engrave a photograph of the Inflexible, the most powerful
and latest launched of our men-of-war.

It might have been easier to compose a much longer
work, but I have had space only to give short accounts of
the jnost celebrated sea-fights, and examples of actions
between single sliipX and of cutting-out expeditions ; feel-
ing sure that my readers would be chiefly interested in
descriptions of undertakings which, though pacific in their
object, equally show the courage and hardihood of the
British sailor, and are calculated to benefit the human
race.

I have endeavoured, indeed, throughout to write what
people in general care to read, and to produce a work
answering fully to its title, "A Popular History of the
British Navy."

W. H. G. K.

BRENTW^OD,

AugLst, 1876. /

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PA«K
L INTRODUCTORY RE MA It KM, . . . . . , .11

II. EABLY ENGLISH BHIF8, 26

III. THB NAVY IN THE DAYS OF THE PLANTAGENETS, ... 43

IV. SHIPS AND COMMERCE TO THB REIGN OF HENRY VII., . . 56
\k ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROYAL NAVY OF ENGLAND, . . .71

VI. REIGN OF ELIZABETH, ...... 82

VII. REIGN OF JAMES THE FIBST, |106

VIII. REIGN OF OHARLBS THE FIRST TO THB TERMINATION OF COMMON-
WEALTH, 116

IX. REIGN OF CHARLES THB SECOND AND JAMES THE SECOND, . . 128

X. A VIEW OF NAVAL AFFAIRS IN CHARLES THE SECOND'S REIGN, . 140

XI. REIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY 170

XII. REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE, 188 .

XIII. REIGN OF GEORGE THE FIRST AND SECOND, .... 204

XIV. REIGN OF GEORGE THB THIRD, , .... .232
XV. DITTO, . . . • . • • 261

XVL DITTO, . .... 306

XVII. WAR WITH UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE WAR IN SYRIA, . 338

XVIII. FIRST WAR WITH CHINA, AND EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE

TRADE, 377

XIX. WARFARE IN SOUTH- AMERICAN, CHINESE, AND RUSSIAN WATERS, . 418

XX. POLAR VOYAGES, , 448

XXI. CHARACTERISTICS OF BRITISH SEAMEN, 464

XXII. SHIPS OF WAR OF THE PRESENT DAY, , 490

XXIII. MODERN ENGINES OF WAR, 637

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PACE

TRIREME, ."* IC>

BOMAN MERCHANT- VESSEL, 18

CROSSING THE LINE, 20

KING ALFRED'S srara, c e . . 83

SINKING OF THE " DROHUNDA," . . c , . . , 89

CANNON AS AT FIRST USED, '...«, „ , . , 48

GENOESE CARRACK, ....,.,... 61
SHIP OF THE TIME OF HENRY VIII., . . , , «, . . .09

THE "REGENT" AJJD "CORDELIER," . . . , e . . 72

ENGLISH ATTACKING SPANISH ARMADA, 91

DEATH OF SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE, ....... 98

STERN OF MAN-OF-WAR OF OLDEN DATS, . . . . , ,107

PRESS-GANG, 164

CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR, 196

CAPTURE OF "PIQUE" BY "BLANCHE," ...... 274

CAPTAIN SIR HENRY TROLLOPS AND THE MUTINEERS, .... 291

CUTTING OUT THE " HERMIONE," ....... 298

NELSON LEAVING SOUTHSEA, .311

TRAFALGAR, 312

A CHINESE JUNK, 379

GALLANT CONDUCT OF THE "BLACK JOKE," 404

SMALL DHOW, .at.. 409

DHOW CHASED BY MAN-OF-WAR, . . . . J e . .411

FORCING THB BATTERIES OF SAN LORENZO. . , , 420

X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAOB

SPORTS Of THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION, 454

LIEUTENANT PIM MEETING CAPTAIN M'CLURE, 459

THH "POLARIS," 461

UNDER 8TBASJ AND SAIL IN ARCTIC ICE, 464

PUNISHMENT 0V BLACKIE, THE COOK, ...... 475

SHEER HULK 487

STERN OF MODERN WOODEN SHIP, ....... 493

THB ''DEVASTATION," 623

THB "INFLEXIBLE," 625

CBDSSIAN IRON-CLAD "POPOFFKA," ....... 532

PLAN OF DECK OF " POPOFFKA," .,.»... 533

HARVEY'S TORPEDO, • . . . 538

TORPEDO CORK FLOATS, 538

TORPEDO VESSEL DESTROYING AN ENEMY, 539

DESTRUCTION OF SLOOP OF WAR BY TORPEDO, . t . . 651

BATTLE OF THE FUTURE . • , , 557

POPULAR HISTORY

THE BRITISH NAVY

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES.

A POPULAR HISTOEY

THE BRITISH NAVY.

CHAPTER I.

jjOME was not built in a day, nor has the glorious
British Navy attained its present condition
except by slow degrees, by numerous trials
and experiments, by improvements gradually
and cautiously introduced, and by the employ-
ment of a vast amount of thought, energy, and toil. We
are apt. to forget when we see an elaborate machine, the
immense quantity of mental and physical exertion it
represents, the efforts of the united minds perhaps of many
successive generations, and the labour of thousands of
workmen. I propose briefly to trace the progress which
the British Navy has made from age to age, as well as its
customs, and the habits of its seamen, with their more
notable exploits since the days when this tight little island
of ours first became known to the rest of the world.

Some writers, indulging in the Darwinian theory of
development, would make us believe that the ironclad of
the present day is the legitimate offspring of the ancient
coracle or wicker-work boat which is still to be found
afloat on the waters of the Wye, and on some of the rivers

12 POPULAR HISTOEY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of the east coast ; but if such is the case, the descent must
be one of many ages, for it is probable that the Britons had
stout ships long before the legions of Caesar set their feet
upon our shores. I am inclined to agree with an ancient
writer who gives it as his opinion that the British were
always a naval people. "For," says he, in somewhat
quaint phraseology, " as Britain was an island, the inhabi-
tants could only have come to it across the ocean in ships,
and they could scarcely have had ships unless they were
nautically inclined." The same writer asserts that the
Britons had vessels of large size long before the invasion of
the Romans, but that they either burnt them to prevent
their falling into the hands of the invaders, or that they
were destroyed by the Romans themselves, who then,
adding insult to injury, stigmatised the people as mere
painted barbarians, whose sole mode of moving over the
waters of their coasts and rivers was in wicker baskets
covered with hides — the truth being, that these wicker-
ribbed boats were simply the craft used by the British
fishermen on their coasts or streams. How could the
hordes that in successive ages crossed the German Ocean
have performed the voyage unless they had possessed more
efficient means of conveyance than these afforded ? I
must, therefore, agree with the aforesaid ancient writer
that they had stout ships, impelled by sails and oars, which
were afterwards employed either in commercial or piratical
enterprises. The Britons of the southern shores, of the
island possessed, he says, wooden-built ships of a size
considerably greater than any hide-covered barks could
have been. It is very certain that many hundred years
before the Christian era the Phoenicians visited the coasts
of Cornwall and Devonshire, and planted colonies there,
which retain to the present day their ancient peculiarities
and customs, and even many names of common things.
It is probable that these colonists, well acquainted as they
were with nautical affairs, kept up their pra«tical know-
ledge of shipbuilding, and formed a mercantile navy to
carry on their commerce with other countries, as well as
ships fitted for warfare to protect their ports from foreign
invasion, or from the attacks of pirates.

DERIVATION OF NAUTICAL TERMS. 13

Many English nautical terms at present in use are
clearly of Phoenician origin. DAVIT, for instance, is
evidently derived from the Arabic word Davit, a crooked
piece of wood, similar in shape to that by which the boats
of a vessel are hoisted out of the water and hung up at her
sides. The word CABOOSE was the name given by the
Phoenicians to the temple dedicated to the god of fire,
whom they worshipped, built on the decks of their vessels ;
when a purer faith was introduced, it being found con-
venient to cook dinners in the no longer sacred Caboose,
the name being retained, Blackie the cook took the place
of the officiating priest. Caboose is at the present day the
name of the kitchen-house on the deck of a merchant-
vessel. Many other terms even now used by seafaring
people are derived directly or indirectly from the same far-
distant origin, as are several of the customs observed at the
present day. I may mention some of them by-and-by.

of tjje

The ancient Greeks and other Eastern nations had
ships of considerable size many hundred years before the
Christian era. The earliest mythical stories describe long
voyages performed by vessels of far more complicated
structure than the simple canoe. The ships engaged in
the Trojan war each carried a hundred and twenty
warriors, which shows that at the period referred to they
could not have been of very small dimensions. Although
they might have been open, they had masts and sails, and
were propelled by rowers sitting on benches, while the
oars were fastened to the sides of the ship with leathern
thongs. Some were painted black, others red. When
they arrived at their destination, the bows were drawn up
on shore ; or when on a voyage, they at night anchored
by the stern, with cables secured to large stones. At an
early period they had round bottoms and sharp prows.
We hear of ships with three ranks of rowers, called tri-
remes, B.C. 700, and long before that time biremes, or
ships with two ranks of oars, had been introduced. In the

14 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

time of Cyrus, long sharp-keeled war-ships were used,
having fifty rowers, who sat in one row, . twenty-five on
each side of the ship. About B.C. 400, the practice of
entirely decking over ships was introduced ; Themistocles
induced the Athenians to build a fleet of two hundred
sail, and to pass a decree that every year twenty new
triremes should be built. The Greeks even at that period,
however, seldom ventured out into the open sea, steering
in the daytime by headlands or islands, and at night by
the rising and setting of different stars.

The Greeks possessed ships of war and merchant vessels.
That a war-galley was of large size may be inferred from the
fact that she carried two hundred seamen, besides on some
occasions thirty Epibatoe — literally, marines, trained to fight
at sea. These war-vessels moved with wonderful rapidity,
darting here and there with the speed of a modern steam-
vessel. The ordinary war-ships were triremes, or had three
banks of oars. The merchant-vessels or transports were much
more bulky, had round bottoms, and although rowers Avere
employed on board, yet they were propelled chiefly by
their sails. After the time of Alexander, vessels with four,
five, and even more ranks of rowers became general, and
ships are described with twelve and even thirty ranks of
rowers and upwards — but they were found of no practical
use, as the crew on the upper benches were unable to throw
sufficient power into the immensely long oars which it was
necessary to employ.

Fully B.C. 500, the Carthaginians invented the quadremes,
and about B.C. 400, Dionysius, first tyrant of Syracuse,
whose ambition was to create a powerful navy, built
numerous vessels of the same description, unused till that
time by the Greeks. The rowers in these ships, with
numerous banks of oars, could not have sat directly one
above another, as some suppose ; but the feet of those on
the upper tier must have rested on the bench or thwart on
which those immediately below them sat. Thus the tiers
of oars were probably not more than two feet, if so much,
one above another ; and supposing the lowest tier was two
feet above the water, the highest in the quadremes could
not have been more than tea feet, and even then the

RAM-HEADED SHIPS. 15

length of the oar of the upper tier must have been very
great, and it must have required considerable exertion on
the part of the rower to move it. The most interesting
part, however^ of an ancient ship to us at the present day
was the beak or rostra. At first these beaks were placed
only above water, and were formed in the shape of a short
thick-bladed sword, with sharp points, generally three, one
above another, and inclining slightly upwards, so that they
might rip open the planks of the vessels against which
they ran. They were sometimes formed in the shape of
a ram's head fixed to the end of a beam ; and hence in
modern days we have adopted the name of rams, which we
give to ships of war built on the same principle.

After a time these beaks were fixed on to the bow of the
ship below the water, and were thus still more dangerous
to other ships, when they could strike an antagonist on the
side. The bow of a ship was generally ornamented by the
head of some animal, such as a wild boar or a wolf, or
some imaginary creature placed above the rostra. On
both sides of the prow were painted eyes, such as are seen
on the bows of boats and vessels in the Mediterranean at
the present day. The upper part of the prow was frequently
ornamented with a helmet covered with bronze. The
steersman or pilot was looked upon as the chief in rank
among the crew, and after him there came an officer whose
duties were similar to those of the boatswain, as he had
the care of the gear and command over the rowers. The
stern or puppis, from which we derive the term poop, was
elevated above the other parts of the deck, and here the
helmsman had his seat, sheltered by a shed frequently
adorned with an image of the tutelary deity of the vessel.
Sometimes he had a lantern hanging in front of him,
probably to enable him to see the magic compass, the use
of which was kept secret from the rest of the crew. A
circular shield or shields also ornamented the stern. Be-
hind the helmsman was placed a slight pole on which flew
the dog- vane, to show the direction of the wind. In the
centre of the ship was a raised platform on a level with
the upper part of the bulwarks, on which in battle the
soldiers took their stand to hurl their darts against the enemy.

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The quadremes and quinqueremes carried from three to
four hundred rowers, and a ship belonging to Ptolemaeus
Philopater is described as carrying four thousand rowers.
From the surface of the water to the top of the prow was
forty-eight cubits, or seventy-two feet, and from the water
to the top of the stern fifty-three cubits, or nearly eighty
feet; she had thus sufficient room for forty ranks of
rowers, and the oars of the uppermost rank were thirty-
eight cubits or fifty-seven feet long, the handles of which

were weighted with lead, so as to balance the outer part,
and thus render the long oars manageable. The lower
parts of the holes through which the oars passed were
covered with leather. Till the invention of the rudder,
vessels were steered by two large oars, one on either side
of the stern, with very broad blades. Ships were also
furnished with long poles, by which they could be shoved
off the ground. The triremes were fitted with two masts,
and so were even smaller vessels; the larger had three
masts, the largest of which was nearest the stern. They

RIGGING OF ANCIENT SHIPS. 17

were usually of fir ; and the head of the lower mast, which
is at present called the top, was in the shape of a drinking
cup. Some of these tops were of bronze ; the largest held
three men, two in the next, and one in the smallest ; and
breast- works ran round them to defend the occupants from
the darts of the enemy. They were also furnished with
tackles for hoisting up stones and weapons to hurl at the
foe. Above the main-mast was a top-mast or top-gallant-
mast, called the distaff; the yards were hoisted up much as
in the present day, and were secured by parrels or hoops
to the mast. They were fitted with topping-lifts and
braces. Each mast carried two square sails, and in after
days the Romans introduced triangular sails. Though they
generally ran before the wind, they were also able to sail
on a wind, though probably not very close-hauled.

Ships were supplied with weather-boards, or broad belts
of canvas, to keep out the sea, and were surrounded, also,
by lines of ropes one above another, to prevent the seamen
from being washed overboard. Sometimes these breast-
works were made of skins or wicker-work, and in bad
weather were raised to a considerable height above the
bulwarks. It is said that Anacharsis, upwards of 500 B.C.,
if he did not invent, greatly improved the form of anchors,
which were already made of iron. The anchor had gene-
rally two flukes or teeth, and was then called bidens ; but
sometimes it had only one. We use the same terms as the
ancients, to cast anchor or weigh anchor, whence the latter
term is equivalent to set sail. Each ship had several
anchors ; that in which the Apostle Paul sailed, we know,
had four, and others had eight. The largest and most
important anchor was denominated " the last hope," hence,
when that failed, arose the expression "the last hope gone."
A buoy was used fixed to the anchor by a rope, to show
the spot where it lay.

The Romans possessed no war fleets till the year B.C. 2GO,
when a fleet of triremes was built to oppose the Carthagi-
nians. Many of them having been sent to the bottom,
however, by the quinqueremes of that people, the Romans
built a hundred of the latter-sized ships from the model of
a Carthaginian vessel wrecked on the coast of Italy. The

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Romans must have had very large merchant-vessels to
enable them to transport the enormous monoliths from
Egypt which they erected in Rome. These vast stories,
also, could not have been got on board and brought up the
Tiber without considerable mechanical appliances.

The construction of their ships differed but slightly from
that of the Greek vessels ; they had turrets on the decks
of their larger men-of-war, and employed a variety of

EOMAK MERCHANT-VESSEL.

destructive engines; so that in battle the soldiers on
board fought much as they did when standing ou the
walls of a fortress. Of one thing I am sure, that no correct
drawings of ancient ships have come down to us, if any
such were really made ; those on medals, cameos, and such
as are painted on walls, are probably as far removed from
the reality as a Thames barge is from a dashing frigate.
They give us, certainly, the different parts of the ship, and
from them we may form a pretty correct idea of what a
ship really was like. Certain it is, however, that ships
were built of prodigious size, and if not equal to a line-of-

LARGE SIZE OF MERCHANT-VESSELS. 19

battle ship of late days, they must have been as large as,
if not larger than, the Great Harry, and probably quite as
well able to encounter as she was the boisterous seas.
Long before the Christian era, ships boldly struck across
the Mediterranean, and even passing through the Pillars
of Hercules, coasted along the shores of Iberia and Gaul,
and thence crossed over to Britain, or coasted round the
African continent.

Advanced as the ancients were in architectural know-
ledge, there is every reason to suppose that they were
equally capable of building ships to answer all their
requirements, either for war or commerce. They were
probably thus not only of great size, but well built, and
were certainly finished and ornamented in an elegant and
even a magnificent manner, far superior to that of many
ages later. The mistaken notion as to the size of the
ships of the ancients arises from the supposition that
because merchantmen of the present day are smaller than
men-of-war, that they were so formerly — the reverse, how-
.ever, being the case. Men-of-war were generally long,
narrow vessels, constructed for speed, to carry only fighting
men, with a small quantity of provisions; whereas mer-
chantmen were built of considerable beam and depth to
stow a large quantity of cargo. A Phoenician vessel was
able to afford accommodation to 500 emigrants, with pro-
visions for a long voyage, besides her crew, while her
masts were formed of the cedars of Lebanon.

Bauticai Cu0tom0 fcertoeD from tfie

Among the best-known customs of the ocean is the
ceremony that takes place when ships cross the line.
That, however, like many others of olden days, is getting
somewhat into disuse. Few of those who have witnessed
it, probably, have suspected that its origin dates ~s far
back as the times of the Phoenicians. As the ship
approaches the imaginary band which encircles the globe,
a gruff voice hails her from alongside, and demands her

20 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and nation, whence she is from, and whither she is
bound. These questions being answered, she is ordered
to heave to, when no less a person than old father Neptune
himself, with his fair wife Amphitrite, and their attendant
Tritons, climb up over the bows, and take possession of the
fare part of the deck. Neptune generally wears a crown
formed out of a tin saucepan, with a flowing beard, a wig
of oakum, and a robe composed of some gay-coloured petti-
coat-stuff, stored up for the occasion, or a piece of canvas,
with curious devices painted on it, while he carries in his
hand a trident, made out of a harpoon or a boat-hook.
The fair Amphitrite, who is more commonly known on
board as Bill Buntline, the boatswain's mate, is habited,
like her lord, in the gayest of gay attire, with a vast
profusion of oakum locks, and bows of huge proportions,
although it must be confessed that she has very little to
boast of in the way of feminine delicacy or personal beauty,
while the Tritons are at all events very odd-looking fish.

The captain, surrounded by his officers, with the pas-
sengers behind him, stands on the poop, and a spirited
conversation, not altogether destitute of humour, generally
takes place between him and Neptune — when the monarch
of the main demands that every one on board who has not
before crossed that portion of his watery realm where the
ship then floats, shall be brought before him. None, what-
ever their rank, are excused. Those who at once consent
to pay tribute are allowed to escape without undergoing
any further ceremony, but those luckless wights who refuse
or have not the wherewithal to pay are instantly seized
on by the Tritons, lathered with pitch and grease, shaved
with a rusty hoop, and soused over head and ears in a huge
tub, while from all quarters, as they attempt io escape
from the marine monsters, bucketfuls of water are hove
down upon them. Uproar and apparent confusion ensues ;
and usually it requires no little exertion of authority on
the part of the captain and officers to restore order.

We might suspect, from the introduction of the names
of Neptune and Amphitrite, that this curious and some-
what barbarous custom must have a classical origin.
There can be no doubt that it is derived from those mari-

CROSSING THE LINE. 21

time people of old, the Phoenicians. Ceremonies, to which
those I have described bear the strongest similarity, were
practised by them at a very remote period, whenever one
of their ships passed through the Straits of Gibraltar.
That talented writer, David Urquhart, in his " Pillars of
Hercules," asserts that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians
possessed a knowledge of the virtues of th% loadstone, and
used it as a compass, as did the mariners of the Levant
till a late period.

The original compass consisted of a cup fitll of water,
on which floated a thin circular board, with the needle
resting on it ; this was placed in a small shrine or temple
in front of the helmsman, with a lantern probably fixed
inside to throw light on the mysterious instrument during
the night. The most fearful oaths were administered to
the initiated not to divulge the secret. Every means, also,
which craft could devise or superstition enforce was em-
ployed by the Phoenicians to prevent other people from
gaining a knowledge of it, or of the mode by which their
commerce beyond the Straits of Hercules was carried on,
or of the currents, the winds, the tides, the seas, the shores,
the people, or the harbours. A story is told of a Phoenician
vessel running herself on the rocks to prevent the Romans
from finding the passage. This secrecy was enforced by
the most sanguinary code — death was the penalty of indis-
cretion ; thus the secret of the compass was preserved
from generation to generation among a few families of
seamen unknown to the rest of the civilised world. The
ceremonies, especially, were kept up, though in a succes-
sion of ages they have undergone gradual alterations.

The lofty shores which form the two sides of the Straits
of Gibraltar were known in ancient days as the Pillars of
Hercules. Here stood the temple of the god, and hither
came the mariners before launching forth on the more
perilous part of their voyage, to pay their vows, and pro-
bably to bind themselves by oaths to conceal the secrets
to be revealed to them. Perhaps in all cases the temple
on shore was not visited, but, at all events, the oaths were
administered to the seamen on board, ablutions were per-
formed, and sacrifices offered up. The introduction of

22 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Christianity did not abolish these observances, and through
the ignorance and superstition of the mariners of those
seas they were for century after century maintained, though
the motive and origin were altogether forgotten.

A traveller, who wrote a^s recently as the seventeenth
century, describes a ceremony which took place on board
a ship in which he was sailing, when passing through the
straits. Just as the two lofty headlands were in sight
on either side of the ship, an old seaman came forward
with a book, and summoning all those whose names he
declared not to be registered in it, made them swear that
they in future voyages would compel their fellow-seamen
to perform the same ceremonies in whicn they were about
to engage. Behind him appeared a band of veteran sea-
men dressed up in a variety of fantastic costumes, with a
drum and other musical instruments. These forthwith
seized on all whose names were not registered as having
before passed through the straits, and dragging them for-
ward, thrust them into tubs, and soused them thoroughly
with water. No one was altogether exempt, but those who
had before passed were allowed to escape a like process by
the payment of a fine.

These same mariners, when they extended their voyages
to the southern hemisphere, very naturally postponed the
ceremony which they were in the habit of performing on
passing the straits, till they crossed the line. They also,
not altogether abandoning classical allusions, changed the
name of their dramatis personce. Hercules, who had no
connection with the ocean, whatever he might have had
to do with the Straits of Gibraltar, had to give place to
Neptune, the long-honoured monarch of the main, and
Amphitrite was introduced to keep him company. We
recognise in the duckings, the sacrificial ablutions, and in
the shaving and fining, the oaths and the penalty.

When the hardy seamen of Great Britain first began to
steer their ships across the line, they were undoubtedly
accompanied by pilots and mariners of the Mediterranean.
These, of course, taught them the ceremonies they had
been in the habit of performing. The English, as may be
supposed, made various additions and alterations suited to

ORIGIN OP CHRISTENING SHIPS. 23

their rougher habits and ideas, and what at one time pro-
bably retained somewhat of the elegance of its classical
origin, became the strange burlesque it now appears.

Another nautical custom stilt in vogue is also derived
from remote antiquity. At the present day, with doubtful
propriety, in imitation of the rite of baptism, we christen
a ship, as it is often called, by breaking a bottle of wine
on her bows as she glides off the stocks. The custom is
of thoroughly heathen origin. A similar ceremony was
practised by the ancient Greeks when they launched a
ship. We ornament our vessels with flags ; they decked
theirs with garlands. At the moment the ship was
launched forth into the deep the priest of Neptune
raised to his lips a goblet of wine, and after quaffing from
it, he poured the remainder out as a libation to his deity.
The modern Greeks still perform the ceremony much in
the manner of their ancestors. Clearly, the custom we have
of breaking a bottle of wine is derived from the libations of
the ancients. In most instances, at the present day, the
ship is named at the moment she is launched by a young
lady, who acts the part of the priest or priestess of old.

Of late years a religious service is usually performed at
the launch of a man-of-war. The heathen libation is
not, however, omitted, and the whole ceremony presents a
curious jumble of ancient and modern forms suited to the
tastes of the day. Still we are bound heartily to pray
that the gallant sailors who will man the stout ship may be
protected while in the performance of their duty to their
country ; and, still more, that they may be brought to a
knowledge of the Gospel.

The Greeks invariably gave feminine names to their
ships, choosing, whenever possible, appropriate ones;
while the less courteous Romans bestowed masculine
names on theirs. Though we may not have followed the
Greek rule, we to the present day always look upon a
ship as of the feminine gender.

The mariner's compass, the most important instrument
used in navigation, demands. further notice. The magnet,
or loadstone, was known to the ancient Greeks many cen-
turies before the Christian era. The legend BUDS, that

24 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

one Magnes a shepherd, feeding his flocks on Mount Ida,
having stretched himself on the ground to sleep, left his
crook, the upper part of which was made of iron, lying
against a rock. On awaking, and rising to depart, he
found, when he attempted to take up his crook, that the
iron adhered to the rock. Having communicated this
extraordinary fact to some neighbouring philosophers,
they called the rock after the name of the shepherd,
Magnes, the magnet.

The Chinese, of still more ancient date, so their tradi-
tions affirm, discovered a mountain rising out of the sea
possessing an intensity of attraction so great that the
nails and iron bands were drawn out of their ships, caus-
ing their immediate wreck. Those sea-arabs whom we
call Phoenicians had, at a very early date, made use of
their knowledge of the property of the loadstone to turn
towards the North Pole; though, like many other dis-
coveries, as I have just mentioned, it was kept a profound
secret among a select few, and concealed from the public
by having an air of religious mystery thrown over it.
Lumps of loadstone formed into balls were preserved in
their temples, and looked upon with awe, as possessing
mystic properties. With these round stones the point
of a needle was rubbed, as often as it required fresh
magnetising.

I have already described the compass used by the
Phoenicians, and how, long after Islamism had gained the
ascendency, it was possessed by their descendants. At
length the secret was divulged, and it came into general
use among the mariners of the Mediterranean in the tenth
and eleventh centuries. Its original form was unaltered
for nearly four centuries, when, in 1502, Flavio Gioja of
Positano, near the town of Amalfi, on the coast of Calabria,
a place celebrated for its maritime enterprise, improved
upon the primitive rude and simple instrument by sus-
pending the needle on a centre, and enclosing it in a box.
The advantages of his invention were so great that his
instrument was universally adopted, and hence he gained
the credit of being the inventor of the mariner's compass,
of which he was only the improver.

THE MARINER'S COMPASS. 25

Long before the compass was used at sea, it had been
employed by the Chinese to direct the course of their
caravans across the desert. For this purpose a figure,
placed in a waggon which led the caravan, was so constructed
that the arm and hand moved with perfect freedom, the
magnetic needle being attached to it ; the hand, however,
pointed to the south, the negative end being fixed in it.
The Chinese also used a needle which was freely suspended
in the air, attached to a silken thread, and by this means
they were able to determine the amount of the western
variation of the needle. It is possible that both the
Chinese and Arabs discovered the magnetic powers of the
loadstone, although the latter in their long voyages may
have allowed the knowledge they possessed to have been
drawn from them by the astute Chinese; or, vice versa,
the Arabs may have obtained the knowledge which the
Chinese already possessed, and kept it secret from the
western nations. We all remember the wonderful ad-
ventures of Sinbad the Sailor, as narrated in the Arabian
Nights — how the ship in which he sailed was attracted by
a magnetic mountain, which finally drew all the iron bolts
and nails out of her. Now it happens that the author
places Sinbad's mountain in the same part of the world in
which the Chinese say their magnetic mountain exists.
Ptolemy, in his geography, also describes a magnetic
mountain existing in the Chinese Seas. We may there-
fore, I think, come to the conclusion, that the mariner's
compass was known to the ancients long before the
Christian era, and that although disused for centuries, the
knowledge was never altogether lost.

CHAPTER II.

(FROM A.D. 600 TO A.D. 1087.)

E Englishmen undoubtedly derive a large
portion of our nautical spirit from our Saxon
ancestors, the first bands of whom came to
the shores of our tight little island under
those sea-rovers known as Hengist and Horsa,
invited by the helpless Britons to defend them from the
attacks of the savage Picts and Scots. The enemies of
the gallant heroes I have named were apt to call them
pirates ; but as might made right in most sublunary affairs
during those dark and troubled ages of the world's history,
they looked upon the roving commissions they had given
themselves as perfectly honourable and lawful, and felt no
small amount of contempt for the rest of mankind who chose
to stay at home at ease by their firesides, while they were
ploughing the ocean in search of plunder and glory. I
suspect that they had a strong preference for the former.

After the Saxons had driven the ancient inhabitants of
the island out of the more fertile portions of the country,
and had made themselves, according to their notions, pretty
comfortable in their new homes; they, in a little time,
in their turn, were sadly pestered by foreign invaders.
These were the Danes. Those hardy sons of the North,
still more wild and fierce than the Saxons, and still less
scrupulous in their proceedings, pleased with the appear-
ance of the country which they had come over to look at,
settled themselves in every nook and corner of Old England
in which they could haul up their ships, and find a resting-

THE OLD SEA-KINGS. 27

place for their feet. I cannot help feeling a great respect
for those old sea-kings. They were heathens, and we must
judge of them by the light which they possessed, and not
by any standard acknowledged in the present civilised
world. Bold, enterprising, and sagacious, their own country
confined and barren, they looked on the wide ocean as the
only worthy field for the employment of their energies.
They loved it for itself, too ; they were bom on it, or within
the sound of its surges ; they lived on it, they fought on it,
and it was their wish through life to die on it, as if only
on its boundless expanse their free spirits could be eman-
cipated from this mortal coil. This same spirit still exists
and animates the breasts of the officers and men of our
navy, of our vast mercantile marine ; and, though mentioned
last, not certainly in a less degree of the owners of the
superb yacht fleets which grace the waters of the Solent,
of the Bay of Dublin, of Plymouth Sound, of the mouth of
the Thames, and indeed of every harbour and roadstead
round our shores. No people, unless animated by such a
spirit, would go to sea simply for the love of a sea-life as
do our yachtsmen. We may depend upon it that they are
the lineal descendants of those old sea-rovers, somewhat
more civilised and polished certainly, differing as much in
that respect, it is to be hoped, from their remote ancestors
as do their trim yachts, which will go nine knots or more
within four and a-half points of the wind, from the tubbish-
looking sturdy craft of the Danes, which had no idea of
sailing any way except dead before the gale.

There was something barbarously grand in the notion of
the old Norse kings which induced them, when worn out
with age and fatigue, to sail forth into mid-ocean, and
then, lighting their own funeral pile, to consume themselves
and the stout ship they loved so well in one conflagration.
Seriously, however, we must not forget that they were
influenced by a very terrible and dark superstition, and be
thankful that we live in an age when the bright beams of
Christianity have dispelled such gross errors from this part
of the globe. I cannot help fancying that the late Lord
Yarborough, that chief of true yachtsmen, had somewhat
the same feeling I have been describing, refined and

28 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

civilised of course, when, his vessel, the Kestrel, being in
Malta harbour, he found death approaching, and ordered
her to be got under weigh, to stand out to sea, that he
might breathe out his spirit surrounded by that element
on which he had so long made his home, and in which he
so truly delighted.

The tribes, now so closely united, which make up the
British race, were the most maritime people of their time,
and it is not, therefore, surprising that we should now
possess strong nautical propensities. The Normans, it must
be remembered also, who afterwards conquered England,
Were descended from the same bold sea-rovers, though,
having paid sundry visits to Paris, where they learned to
write poetry, to sing, and to dance, with many other
accomplishments, they had wonderfully improved in civili-
sation since the days of their ancestors, of whom I have
been speaking. Still the same enterprising spirit animated
their bosoms, afterwards to shine forth with splendour,
when their descendants became the leaders of numberless
exploring expeditions to all parts of the world, and of the
victorious fleets of Old England.

There is no doubt, as I have shown, that the English
possessed trading vessels, if not also ships, built exclusively
for war, from a very early period.

The first regular war-fleet, however, which we hear of
was one built by our great King Alfred, to protect his
dominions from the attacks of the Danes.

He designed a ship from the model of those used by the
Greeks, Romans, and Carthaginians, similar to the Maltese
galley employed down to a very recent date in the Mediter-
ranean. His ships are said to have been twice as large as
any vessels of wUr used by other nations at that period.
They were large galleys, propelled by sixty oars, with a
deck above that part where the rowers sat. On the deck
stood the fighting men and mariners, who managed the
sails, for they had masts and sails as well as oars. There
were besides probably small towers or breast-works at the
stern and bow to contribute to their means of attack and
defence. These ships were built of well-seasoned materials,
commanded by experienced officers, whom the king had

KING ALFRED'S SHIPS. 29

collected from all quarters, and manned by expert seamen.
The commanders were ordered to go forth in quest of the
Danes, to attack wherever they encountered them, and to
give no quarter; orders which were strictly obeyed, and
which for the time were most efficacious in clearing the
coast of pirates. In consequence of the ease with which
the ships were moved through the water, and from their
being always able to keep the weather-gauge, as likewise
from the strange appearance which they presented to their
enemies, Alfred's commanders were not afraid of attacking
twice or thrice their own number of the enemy, and
invariably came off victorious. Indeed they had nearly
the same advantage over the Danes which a steamer at the
present day has over a fleet of Chinese junks. Alfred, it
is said, caused surveys to be made of the coasts of Norway
and Lapland, and sent out ships to the polar regions in
search of whales.

I have met with an old writer, who describes a far more
remarkable achievement than any of these. He was a
monk, of course, and his knowledge of geography we may
suspect was rather limited, when he tells us that in the
reign of Alfred a voyage was performed to the Indies by
the way of the north-east — that is to say, round the north
of Asia-sunder the command of a certain monk, S with elm,
who, as his reward, was made Bishop of Shurburn. The
mission was undertaken to aid the Christians of a place
called St. Thomas, on the continent of India, and we are
assured that the curiosities which wore brought back, and
are fully described, are exactly like the productions found
in India, when it became more fully known. The expe-
dition, if it ever took place, must have proceeded down the
African coast and round the Cape of Good Hope. If so,
the seamen of Britain, with a monk as their commander,
succeeded in an enterprise which, having been totally for-
gotten, immortalised Bartholomew Diaz as the discoverer of
the Stormy Cape full six centuries afterwards. We must
not place more faith in the narrative than it deserves, but
one thing is certain, that if any long or perilous voyages
were performed, the prints of ships pretending to be those
of the days of King Alfred found on tapestries, old illus-

30 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

trated histories and other works are not slightly incorrect.
When a boy, I used very strongly to suspect that if a ship
had ever been built after the model of the prints exhibited
in the History of England, she would either, as sailors say,
have turned the turtle directly she was launched, or have
gone boxing about the compass beyond the control of those
on board her ; but as to standing up to a breeze, or going
ahead, I saw that that was impossible. I have since
discovered, with no little satisfaction, when examining into
the subject, that the verbal descriptions of the ships of
those days give a very different idea to that which the
prints and tapestry work do, which so offended my nau-
tical instincts.

Large substantial vessels, we may depend on it, existed
in those days, and though encumbered with much top
hamper, and rigged only with square sails, they did not
carry the high towers nor the absurdly cut sails which
they are represented to have done in all the illustrated
histories I have seen. The celebrated galleys of King
Alfred are described by an old writer as very long, narrow,
and deep vessels, heavily ballasted on account of the high
deck on which the soldiers and seamen stood above the
heads of the rowers. Of these rowers, there were four to
work each oar, and as there were thirty-eight oars on a
side, there must have been upwards of three hundred
rowers to each vessel. Whether these vessels had more
than one mast is uncertain. From their want of beam
they would have run much risk of turning over had they
attempted to sail except directly before the wind. They
moved with great rapidity ; and in an engagement off
the Isle of Wight, they ran down the Danish vessels in
succession till the whole fleet of the enemy was either
sunk, driven on shore, or put to flight.

The navy of England still further increased during the
reign of Alfred's immediate successors, till, in the time of
King Edgar (A.D. 957), it had reached the number of three
thousand six hundred ships at least, " with which," as say
his chroniclers, "he vindicated the right claimed in all
ages by the sovereigns of this island to the dominion of
the seas (meaning the seas surrounding England), and

FLEETS OF KING EDGAR. 31

acquired to himself the great title of The Protector of
Commerce."

This navy was divided into three fleets, each of twelve
hundred sail, which he kept in constant readiness for
service, one on the eastern coast, another on the western,
and a third on the northern coasts of the kingdom, to
defend them against the depredations of the Danish and
Norman pirates, and to secure the navigation of the ad-
jacent seas ; which, that he might the more effectually do,
he, every year after the festival of Easter, went on board
the fleet on the eastern coast, and sailing westward with
it scoured the channel of pirates ; and having looked into
all the ports, bays, and creeks between the Thames' mouth
and Land's End, quitted this fleet and sent it back, and
going on board the western fleet did the like in those parts,
as also on the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and
among the Hebrides or Western Islands, where being met
by the northern fleet, he went on board the same, and came
round to the Thames' mouth. Thus encompassing all his
dominions, and providing for the security of their coasts,
he rendered an invasion impracticable, and kept his sailors
in continual exercise. This he did for the whole sixteen
years of his reign.

May our rulers ever possess the wisdom of Alfred, the
greatest of England's kings, and by the same means pre-
serve inviolate the shores of our native land.

It would have been well for Old England had all its
monarchs imitated the excellent example set by King
Edgar, and had never allowed any decrease in the naval
establishment. Let the present generation do as he did,
with the modifications changed times and circumstances
have introduced, and then, although we may not be able
correctly to troll forth " Hearts of oak are our ships," we
may sing truly —

" Iron coats wear our ships,
Lion hearts have our men ;
We always are ready ;
Then steady, boys, steady ;
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.*

King Edgar appears to have been the last great naval

32 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

sovereign of the Saxon race. When his son Ethelred, by
the murder of his brother Edward, came to the throne, his
navy was so neglected that the Danes made incursions
with impunity on every part of the coasts of England, and
in the year A.D. 991, they extorted no less a sum than
£10,000 from that wicked monarch, or rather from his
unfortunate subjects (who, depend upon it, had to pay the
piper), as the price of their forbearance in refraining from
levying a further amount of plunder.

This circumstance might have served as a strong hint to
the English of those times to keep up the strength of their
navy, but it does not appear to have had any such effect ;
and even that wise monarch, Canute the Great, had only
thirty-two ships afloat. We find, however, that when
Harold, son of Earl Godwin, was striving to maintain his
claim to the crown of England (A.D. 1066), he fitted out a
numerous fleet, with which he was able to defeat his rivals.
Now, as we are elsewhere told that one of these rivals alone
had a navy of three hundred sail, his must have been of
considerable magnitude. After his death, at the battle of
Hastings, his sons and several of his chief nobility escaped
in the remnant of their fleet to the coasts of Norway,
and gave no little annoyance to the Norman Conqueror,
William.

It must be remembered that the Duke of Normandy,
as he was then styled, had, to bring over his army, nine
hundred transports ; but he burnt them when he landed,
to show his OAvn followers, as well as the Saxons, that he
had come to die or to conquer.

Such is a very brief account of the navy of England up
to the time of the Norman Conquest.

It is more easy to describe what the ships of those days
were not like than to give an exact description of them.
Certainly the ships represented on tapestry, on seals, or on
coins are very unlike any piece of naval architecture which
ever had existence. Every seaman knows how impossible
it is for an ordinary landsman to draw anything like a
faithful representation of a ship, however picturesque
a production the thing might appear to him. We are
bound, therefore, to look with grave suspicion on the per-

AKCIENT MERCHANT-VESSELS. 33

formances of the draughtsmen of those early days; who had
but a poor idea of drawing the objects they had constantly
before their eyes.

Our artist has given a fair representation, I suspect, of
what a ship was in those early days. She probably had
another mast aft, and some more head sail of a square
shape. What are called fore and aft sails were not generally
used till comparatively modern times. She looks as if she

KINO ALFRED'S SHIPS.

really was fitted to cross the channel, to carry a number
of men, and even to contend with heavy seas. The tall
masts, heavy rigging, and large tops, on which a number
of men could stand and fight, had not then been employed
on these northern seas.

I have hitherto spoken only of the war-ships of those
early days. There were, however, merchant-ships which
traded to far-distant shores. They were probably good
wholesome craft, of somewhat tub-like form, of about the
size of a vessel of the present day of one hundred to one
hundred and fifty tons, rigged with two or three big

34 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

sails, with one bank of oars, and manned by a hardy and
numerous crew, who patiently waited for the coming of
a fair wind before they ventured to make sail ; and who,
though generally addicted to hugging the shore, yet at
times ventured to stand out into the boundless ocean,
guided alone by the stars. The mercantile marine was en-
couraged in every way by the wiser sovereigns of the Saxon
race, as the nursery of those stout seamen who would
prove the best bulwarks of their country against foreign
invasion.

We now come to a fresh epoch in the history of Old
England ; but as no writer of those days has thought fit
to enlighten us as to naval affairs, our knowledge of them
is meagre and unsatisfactory.

Literature, in that iron age, was chiefly confined to
monastic cells ; we hear of bishops becoming warriors, and
leading their armies to battle on the field, and it is recorded
that there were other monks besides Swithelm who took to
the sea as a profession. Probably some sailors, after grow-
ing weary of cutting throats on the high seas, and other
acts of piracy, assumed the easy and dignified position of
monks, and endowed their monasteries with their wealth ;
but then it may be questioned whether they were likely
to have been able to read, much less to write.

William of Normandy had, for some time, too much to
do on shore in keeping his new subjects in order, to attend
to affairs afloat ; but he at length was compelled to build
and fit out a fleet to defend his kingdom from the attacks
of the Danes, instigated by the sons and followers of
Harold. He, after much consideration, hit upon a new
plan for raising a fleet, and it is a point of history worthy
of recollection. He exempted five of the principal ports
of the kingdom from all taxes, impositions, or burdens, on
condition that each should fit out, man, and support a
certain number of vessels for a certain period. They were
Dover, Romney, Sandwich, Hastings, and Ryde, and were
thence called the CINQUE PORTS. Though others were
afterwards added, the name has ever since been retained.
It appears by Doomsday Book that Dover, Romney, and
Sandwich, severally, were to provide twenty vessels each,

THE CINQUE POUTS. 35

with twenty-one men, provisioned for fifteen days at their
own charge. After that time the crews were to be sup-
ported by the Crown.

Another document states that, besides the twenty men,
there is to be a master of the mariners, who is to receive
sixpence a day, a constable, who is to receive a like sum,
and each mariner threepence a day. These five ports,
with other smaller ones attached to them, provided in
all 57 ships, 1187 men, and 57 boys, one boy being on
board each ship. These boys were called gromets. A
gromet is now the name given to a ring of rope used some-
times to slide up and down the mast, and I conclude,
therefore, that the duty of these boys was to swarm up
the mast, and set and furl the lighter sails.

In the reign of King John (A.D. 1217), Herbert of Burgo,
the captain of Dover, hearing of an invasion intended by
Lewis the Elder, son of the King of France, in favour of the
discontented barons, assembled in the king's name forty
tall ships from the Cinque Ports, and took, sunk, and
discomfited eighty sail of Frenchmen in a gallant engage-
ment on the high seas. These ports did great service
under Henry the Third and Edward the First. Among
other brave deeds, they fitted out one hundred sail, and
encountered two hundred sail of Frenchmen with such
success, that they effectually ruined the navy of France.
Many years happily passed before that country recovered
the loss of her men and ships. I will give a fuller account
of this action further on. Numberless are the tales of a
like description to be told.

Besides the twenty-three mariners which these war-
ships of the Cinque Ports carried, there were on board a
considerable number of fighting men, knights, and their
retainers, armed with bucklers, spears, and bows and
arrows. They also used slings and catapults, and perhaps
stink-pots, like those employed by the Chinese at the
present day, as well as other ancient engines of warfare.
That ships of war were capable of holding a considerable
number of men, we learn from the well-known account of
the death of the brave young Prince William, son of Henry
the First. When crossing the channel from Normandy,

36 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

in an attempt to make his ship get ahead of that of his
father, he kept too close in with the shore, and conse-
quently ran on a rock called the Shatteras. He might
have been saved ; but hearing that his sister, the Countess
of Perche, still remained on board, he ordered the boat in
which he was escaping to put back to rescue her. On
arriving alongside, so large a number of people jumped
into the boat, that she was swamped, and all were lost.
On this occasion two hundred people perished, only one,
the ship's butcher, escaping to the shore, and through him
the sad tidings were known. Now, if we turn to any old
illustrated History of England, we shall find, probably, a
print professing to describe this very event. Yet, on
examining it, we shall see that the vessel is not large
enough to carry twenty people, much less two hundred.
The artists either made their sketches from river barges,
or row boats, or drew a ship from one they saw at a
distance, and having altered and adorned her to suit
their own fancies afterwards, put a crew on board, utterly
forgetful of the proper proportions between the ship and
the men.

In the reign of the son and successor of William the
Conqueror, William the Second, called Rufus, the first
great crusade against the Saracen possessors of the Holy
Land was commenced, in the year 1095. To aid in that
extraordinary expedition, a large fleet was fitted out in
England, and placed under the command of the Earl of
Essex. The ships, as they had a long voyage to perform,
and a number of armed men and provisions to carry, must
have been of considerable size. As the use of the mariner's
compass was unknown to them, they must have coasted
round the shores of France, Portugal, and Spain, before
they entered the Mediterranean.

The Atlantic in those days was not likely to be more
tranquilly disposed than it is at present, and thus the
mariners must have been expert and brave, and the ships
well found, or they would not have performed the voyage in
safety. We know that the Crusaders had horses, but they
probably were transported from the neighbouring shores
of the Mediterranean, and any favourite war-steeds which

MODE OF PLACING THE ROWERS. 37

came from England were conveyed across France. Neither
Henry the First nor Stephen, from A.D. 1100 to 1135,
maintained a navy, properly so called, but on the few
occasions that they required ships, they hired them of the
merchants, called on the Cinque Ports to supply them, or
had them built for the purpose.

Probably all vessels in those days carried oars, or long
sweeps, to assist them in calms, and in going in and out
of harbours ; but many craft of considerable burden de-
pended solely on oars for moving at all. There appears to
be much difference of opinion as to how these oars were
worked when there were several tiers, and I therefore
return to the subject already touched on in the first
chapter. It is most probable that there was one space, or
between-decks, devoted entirely to the rowers. This space
was fitted with a succession of rows of benches one higher
than the other, but not one above another. That is to say,
that the bench immediately higher than the first was
placed in the interval between it and the one behind it,
so that the rowers sitting on this higher bench had their
feet pressed against the bench below them, others on the tier
above having their feet on their bench. As the tiers were
higher and higher in the vessel's sides, the oars would be
longer and longer, and would project far beyond the lower
ones ; indeed, they would become sweeps, and probably
the inner part of each would extend completely across the
vessel, and thus the upper oars on the same tier would not
be opposite to each other. The lowest tier would perhaps
be pulled only by one or two men, and as the tiers rose in
height, and consequently the oars in length, more men
would be added. Then, again, the lower tiers would have
many more oars than the upper, and consequently even
more men would be seated on the lower than on the upper
benches. This, I think, is the best solution as to the diffi-
culty regarding the mode in which the rowers of a large
galley were placed. The hold and the deck immediately
below the rowers was thus left for cargo and stores, and
perhaps for sleeping places, while the deck and forecastle,
and aftercastle or poop above them, were free for working
the sails and for fighting. The officers, and perhaps the

38 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAV1T.

crew, slept under the poop aiid forecastle, and in other build-
ings on deck, as is the case on board many vessels at the
present day, only the forecastles and poops were more like
those of a Chinese junk than of any modern European
craft.

Henry the Second, in the year 1171, collected or built
a fleet of four hundred ships of great size, for the purpose
of carrying over his troops for the conquest of Ireland,
which country he annexed to the English crown. These
ships, as no enemy was to be encountered on the ocean,
were merely transports.

Richard the First, of the Lion Heart, who began to reign
1189, fitted out a fleet, which, when assembled in the port
of Messina in Sicily, in the year 1189, ready to carry his
army to the shores of the Holy Land, consisted of sixteen
capital ships of extraordinary burden (occupying the posi-
tion of three-deckers), one hundred and fifty ordinary ships
of war, and fifty-three galleys, besides vessels of less size
and tenders. In his passage to Acre, known also as Ptole-
mais, he encountered a huge vessel of the Saracens, laden
with ammunition and provisions, bound for the same place,
which was then besieged by the Christian army. She was
called the Dromunda, and her size was enormous. Though
she appeared like some huge castle floating on the sea,
Richard ordered his galleys to attack her, and as they ap-
proached, they were received by showers of missiles, Greek
fire, and other horrible combustibles. It was no easy task
to board so lofty a ship, but the king urged on his men,
some of whom, jumping overboard, swam to the rudder, to
which they secured ropes, and thus gained the power of
steering her. The most active now climbed up her sides,
but were driven back by the overwhelming number of her
defenders. The galleys were next ordered to try the effect
of their beaks ; retiring to windward, and setting all their
sails, as well as working away with their oars, they bore
down on the Dromunda with such force and velocity, that
their iron beaks pierced the sides of the monstrous ship,
which instantly began to sink, and out of fifteen hundred
officers and men who composed her company, the whole,
with the exception of fifty-five, were drowned. These latter

FLEET OF THE1 CRUSADERS. 39

were chiefly officers, none of the common men being re-
ceived on board the galleys.

It is very evident that the art of shipbuilding must have
made considerable progress in that part of the world, when
a ship of such a size could be constructed. The Dromunda
could scarcely have been less in size than a fifty-gun ship
in Nelson's day.

We here see the effect produced by rams, much in the

SINKING OP THE DR.OMUNJDA.

way it is proposed to employ them in modern warfare.
There will, however, be this difference in a naval battle of
the future, that both sides will be provided with these
formidable implements of warfare. Before Richard reached
Acre a fierce naval engagement had taken place between
the besiegers and the besieged. The latter came out of
port with their galleys two and two, preserving a similar
array in their advance. The Crusaders prepared to receive
them, moving to a distance, so that they should not be
denied free egress. The Crusaders then disposed their

40 POPtTLAit HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

ships in a curved line, so that if the enemy attempted to
break through they might be enclosed and defeated. In
the upper tiers the shields interlaced were placed circularly,
and the rowers sat close together, that those above might
have freer scope. The sea being perfectly calm, no impedi-
ment was offered to the blows of the warriors or the strokes
of the rowers; advancing nearer to each other, the trumpets
sounded on both sides, and mingled their dread clangour.
First, they contended with missiles, but the Crusaders more
earnestly plied their oars, and pierced the enemy's ships
with the beaks of their own. Soon the battle became
general ; the oars became entangled, and the combatants
fought hand to hand.

There was one English galley which, through the rash-
ness of the crew, got close alongside an enemy, who set her
in flames with their Greek fire. The Saracens on this
rushing in at all parts, the rowers leaped into the sea, but
a few soldiers remained through desperation. Those few
overcame the many, and retook their half-burned ship.
The weapons used were swords, axes> lances, arrows, and
other missiles, as well as engines for casting large stones ;
and both Saracens and Christians employed that burning
oil commonly called the Greek fire, which is said to con-
sume both flint and iron. It was the invention of the
seventh century, and was long used with terrific effect by
the Greeks, who called it the liquid fire. It is supposed
to have been composed of naphtha, pitch, and sulphur, with
other ingredients. It was propelled in a fluid state through
brazen tubes from the prows of vessels and from fortifica-
tions, with as much facility as water is now thrown from
the fire-engine ; igniting the moment it was exposed to
the air, when it became a continuous stream of fire, carry-
ing with it torture and destruction. Water increased its
power, and it could only be extinguished by vinegar or
sand ; while, in addition to its other horrors, it emitted a
stifling smoke, loud noise, and disgusting stench. Tow
dipped in it was fastened to the heads of arrows, which thus
became carriers of unquenchable flame. It was kept in jars
or large bottles. It was probably introduced into England
before the time of Richard the First, for in 1195 a payment

FIRE-SHIPS FIRST EMPLOYED. 41

Was made by the king for carrying Greek fire and other
implements from London to Nottingham.

Fire-ships were, indeed, of far earlier date than the days
of Richard the First. We find them in use among the
Tyrians in the time of Alexander the Great. It is related
that at the siege of Tyre, when a mole was being constructed
to join that city to the continent, the inhabitants, having
loaded a large ship heavily by the stern with sand and
stones, for the purpose of raising her head out of the water,
and having filled her with all sorts of combustible matter,
they drove her violently with sails and oars against the mole,
when they set fire to her, the seamen escaping in their
boats. The mole being in a great measure built of wood,
with wooden towers on it, was by this device utterly de-
stroyed. Thus we see that the Tyrians invented and suc-
cessfully employed fire-ships before the Christian era. We
are apt to consider many other discoveries modern which
were known to the ancients. For instance, an Italian
author, some three centuries ago, describes a ship weighed
in his time out of the lake of Riccia, where it had lain
sunk and neglected for above thirteen hundred years. It
was supposed to have belonged to Trajan.

He observed, he says, " that the pine and cypress of
which it was built had lasted most remarkably. On the
outside it was built with double planks, daubed over with
Greek pitch, caulked with linen rags, and over all a sheet
of lead, fastened on with little copper nails."

Here we have caulking and sheathing together known
in the first century of the Christian era ; for, of course, the
sheet of lead nailed over the outside with copper nails was
sheathing, and that in great perfection, the copper nails
being used instead of iron, which, when once rusted in the
water by the working of the ship, soon lose their hold, and
drop out.

Captain Saris, in a voyage to Japan in the year 1613,
describes a junk of from eight to ten hundred tons burden,
sheathed all over with iron. As in the days of the Plan-
tagenets the country had not the advantage of possessing
a Board of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, nor,
indeed, any office in which the records of the ships built,

42 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

altered, rebuilt, or pulled to pieces were kept, or, indeed,
any naval records whatever, we are without the means of
ascertaining what special improvements were introduced
either in shipbuilding or in the fitting or manning of ships
during each particular reign. Indeed, for several centuries
very slow progress appears to have been made in that art,
which ultimately tended to raise England to the prosper-
ous state she has so long enjoyed.

CHAPTER III.

m % gags 0f %

(FROM A.D. 1087 TO A.D. 1327.)

ILLIAM RUFUS, in 1087, had scarcely a
vessel which deserved the name of a ship of
war. The trade of the country, however, was
carried on by small craft, of which there were
great numbers ; there remained also some of
the transports of former years, but William when expect-
ing the invasion of his kingdom by Jus brother Robert,
found to his sorrow that he possessed no ships of sufficient
size to compete with those of the Normans. Being
unwilling to weaken his land forces by sending them on
board such ships as he possessed, he engaged all the large
trading-vessels of the country, and invited mariners to
embark in the transports. He gave commissions, also,
to all the traders to sink, burn, and destroy every Norman
vessel they could meet with, and offered considerable
rewards for every successful action. Besides this, he
published proclamations inviting all private persons to
fit out vessels on their own account, encouraging them
with the promise of similar rewards. Numbers of traders
accepted the commission, and the sea swarmed with priva-
teers. They were of small size, but were manned by bold
seamen, who encouraged one another by their numbers.
Robert, who was aware that the English had no fleet, not
expecting any resistance at sea, thought only of loading
his transports with as many men as they could cany.
His ships were therefore ill-prepared for action, being over-

44 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH

loaded with men, and he little expected any opposition
from the small ships of the English.

The latter, meantime, obtained exact intelligence of the
movements of the Normans, while they kept secret their
own forces and plans. The Normans at length sailed, and
had no time to laugh at the smallness of the English
ships before they began to quake at their numbers. The
latter bore down upon them like a pack of hounds on a
sta,g, and, encouraged by the promised rewards, fought with
the greatest fury. In vain the Normans attempted to fly ;
they were overtaken and overpowered by the multitude of
their assailants. The number that perished by the sword
and drowning was astonishing; those who attempted to
escape were overtaken, and shared the fate of the others ;
and but few got back to Normandy with the news of their
defeat. Never was a sea-fight in which personal courage
was more nobly exhibited ; never a more complete victory,
nor ever, apparently, slighter means of obtaining it.

The Normans called the English pirates, but they were
properly privateers, and the original armament to which
they were united, though a poor one, was a royal force.
William punctually paid the promised rewards.

People were generally too pleasantly employed in those
medieval days in knocking their neighbours on the head,
or in storming and demolishing their castles, and other
similar pastimes on shore, to attend to any subject so
unromantic as shipbuilding or navigation.

Still the monarchs of the Plantagenet race had ships of
their own; but their chief notion of keeping up a navy
was by laying taxes on the seaports, on commerce, and on
the fisheries, thus crippling the surest means by which a
fleet could be maintained. The chief naval events of the
intermediate reigns have been described in the preceding
chapter.

John, we are told, had a naval establishment of ships
and officers, with certain boards for its government. He
had not many vessels, however, as he chiefly depended on
the Cinque Ports to furnish him with ships, while he laid
an embargo on merchant vessels in case of necessity ; and
turned them into ships of war. He must have had a great

EARLY NAVAL BATTLES. 45

notion, however, of keeping up the dignity of England on
the ocean, as he passed an ordinance that all ships should
lower their topsails to the English flag ; a custom which
was preserved for many centuries. Foreigners, however,
did not always show themselves willing to conform to the
custom, and it was more than once the cause of quarrels
between England and other nations. Still, even at the
present day, English men-of-war do not salute foreign ships
in that or any other way, unless the latter pay the compli-
ment to them first, or at the same time.

Philip Augustus of France having attacked his ally,
the Earl of Flanders, the king fitted out a numerous fleet,
which he placed under the command of the Earl of Salis-
bury, giving him directions to destroy rather than to cap-
ture any of the enemy's ships. The Earl of Salisbury
observed his instructions, and followed the movements of
the enemy, waiting for an opportunity to bear down upon
them. The French ships, amounting to more than nine
hundred sail, moved slowly over the sea, he watching them
vigilantly, and bearing the reproaches of his officers, who
thought him deficient in courage. On the third day a
slight storm having thrown the French fleet into confusion,
the earl boro down upon them. The winds had so terrified
the French that they were in no condition to stand before
a furious enemy. The English, who were far better sailors,
were in high courage, and so furiously assaulted the French
ships that in a short time upwards of a hundred were sunk,
many more running on shore, while scarcely forty got back
to the ports of France.

Another important action, before mentioned, occurred in
this reign. Prince Louis, afterwards Louis the Eighth, to
whose father Pope Innocent had made a liberal present of
England without consulting its inhabitants, had set sail from
Calais at the head of a large army, convoyed by eighty large
ships of war. Hubert de Burgo, with a great baron, Philip
D'Albiney, as his lieutenant, assembled all the ships they
could from the Cinque Ports, though the whole did not
amount to more than half that of the French fleet. The latter
was under the command of Eustace the monk, who had
formerly been in the pay of John, but had lately transferred

4(5 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

his services to Louis. The English ships were armed with
strong beaks, like those of the Roman galleys, and their
mode of attack consisted, as of yore, in charging the vessels
of the enemy, and endeavouring to pierce their sides with
their iron rams. They were impelled chiefly by oars, but
also carried sails, to enable them to bear down with greater
speed on the enemy ; hence the importance of obtaining
the weather-gage. The two fleets came in sight of each
other in the Straits of Dover, on the 24th of August, 1217.
The English admirals having by their skilful manoeuvres
obtained the weather-gage, bore down on the enemy with
irresistible force. In addition to other means of offence,
they had brought on board a number of barrels of unslaked
lime ; on nearing the enemy they poured water on the
lime, so as to slake the whole mass, and the smoke thus
created being borne by the wind into the faces of the
French, prevented them from seeing the operations of the
foe till it was too late to avoid them. The English boarded,
their first endeavour being to cut away the rigging and
halliards of the French ships, when the masts and sails
went over the side. Most of the French knights, prefer-
ring death to imprisonment, leaped overboard. Throwing
their grapnels on board, the English made a furious on-
slaught on the enemy, the crossbowmen and archers, under
Sir Philip D'Albiney, discharging their bows and arrows,
did immense execution. Out of the whole fleet, fifteen
only escaped. De Burgo's great aim, however, was to
obtain possession of the traitor Eustace, and diligent search
being made, the quondam ecclesiastic was found in the
hold of one of the captured vessels, when he was immedi-
ately killed. The French fleet was put to flight, the crews
of those which escaped landed on the Kentish coast.
The victory prevented Louis from obtaining further rein-
forcements from France, and showed the English barons,
who had hitherto adhered to his cause, that it would be
hopeless to attempt the subjugation of England. They,
therefore, at once made their peace with the king, and
Louis was glad to get off by renouncing all claim to the
English crown.
We now come to the long reign of Henry the Third,

MODE OF ATTACK IN SEA FIGHTS. 47

AJ>. 1216. Frequent expeditions were fitted out on his
demand by the Cinque Ports, and by other maritime towns,
while merchant vessels were occasionally pressed into his
service to carry him and his troops over to France. The
king himself also possessed a fleet of some importance,
one of his ships carrying, besides the commander and
officers and the regular fighting men, fully thirty mariners.
Many merchant vessels of the present day of eight or nine
hundred tons, do not carry a larger crew. In those days
we read that a number of piratical vessels, both British
and of other nations, scoured the ocean, and committed
great depredations both along the coast and on the peace-
able merchantmen who sailed up and down it.

The great object of the commander of a fleet in those days
was to gain the weather-gage, then to bear down under
all sail in order to strike the broadsides of the enemy's
ships ; when the one generally attempted to board the
other, if not to throw stink-pots into their antagonists'
vessels, or what were called fireworks, a sort of hand
grenades; and sometimes slaked lime to blind the foe with
the vapour. With this object in view the admiral man-
oeuvred his fleet for hours together, rowing and sailing. As
guns, when they first came into use, carried no great
distance, they were not fired till ships got close together.
Ships in action very frequently caught fire and blew up,
and sometimes locked in a deadly embrace, were destroyed
together. Trumpeters had an important part to play, not
only to make signals, but to create as much noise as
possible. The good ship called the Matthew Gonson, of
the burden of three hundred tons, whereof was owner
old Master William Gonson, paymaster of the king's navy,
fitted out at this time for a voyage to the 'islands of Candia
and Ohio to bring back wine and other produce, besides the
hundred men of her company, had six gunners and four
trumpeters. Probably men-of-war had many more such
musicians.

Edward the First, A.D. 1272, ordained various laws and
ordinances for the government of his navy, which was now,
though still furnished chiefly by the maritime ports, better
organised than hitherto. He claimed, also, the right of

48 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

England to the sovereignty of the narrow seas, asserting
that from time immemorial it had been undisputed. About
the year 1290, the pennant used at the present day by all
ships commissioned by officers of the Royal Navy was first
adopted.

In the reign of Edward the Second no important mari-
time event occurred, though squadrons were occasionally
sent away on various services.

It is only by examining carefully into the details given

CANNON AS AT FIRST USED.

by historians of the naval combats whicn took place in
those ages, that we can hope to form a correct guess as to
the size and construction of a ship, and the method of
manoeuvring her. We are now coming to a very impor-
tant epoch in naval matters, the reign of Edward the Third,
1327, when the mariner's compass was discovered, or rather
became known in Europe, and cannon were first introduced
on board ships.

THE BATTLE OF SLUYS. 49

Edward gained the title of " The King of the Sea," and
raised the naval glory of England to a higher pitch than
it bad ever before attained by his many victorious combats
on the ocean. The greatest naval engagement which
occurred during the middle ages was that known as the
battle of Sluys, when Philip the Sixth sat on the throne
of France. The English fleet consisted of only 260 ships
fit for warfare. The French, whose fleet amounted to no
less than 400 sail, lay securely, as they thought, in the
harbour of Sluys. Edward embarked on board the cog
Thomas, commanded by Richard Fyall, and attended by
several noblemen. A cog was a craft larger than those usu-
ally designated ships — the cog John, which is spoken of, had
a crew of eighty-two men, and probably she carried besides
a considerable number of knights and soldiers. Many ships
of the English fleet must have been of small size. Froissart
says that the French fleet consisted of 140 large ships,
besides hanquebos with 35,000 men on board, Normans,
Picards, and Genoese. The masts of so numerous an
assemblage of vessels, as they were seen in the harbour of
Sluys, resembled rather a forest than a fleet. Of these
ships, nineteen were remarkable for their enormous size.
Besides other implements of warfare, quantities of large
stones were stored in the tops and also in small boats
hoisted to the mastheads, to be hurled on the assailants.
The French had secured their ships together by chains, to
prevent the English from breaking through them. Among
the ships in the leading rank was the Christopher, full of
Genoese archers, with the Edward, Katherine, Rose, and
other large cogs which had formerly been captured from
the English.

Edward had perfect confidence in the valour and prowess
of his seamen and men-at-arms, and, notwithstanding the
superiority of the enemy in numbers, he resolved to open
a passage through them. Having ordered all his ships to
be in readiness, he placed the strongest in the front, and
filled those which were at each end of the line with archers.
Also between every two ships of archers he placed one
filled with men-at-arms. He likewise ordered another line
to be formed on the side, as a body of reserve, and filled

50 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

those ships also with archers, that they might be ready to
support or relieve any most requiring aid.

The English fleet approaching the haven of Sluys in the
manner described, found the French already lying in order
of battle, in three divisions, waiting for them. The English
having gained the advantage of the wind and sun by their
dexterity and management, the king ordered the signal
for engaging to be given. The Normans, perceiving the
English to tack as they did to get the wind, thought that
they were taking to their heels, and began to triumph.
But they soon found out their mistake, and, being able sea-
men and brave combatants, prepared for the fight. They
began the battle by advancing with the Great Christo-
pher, and, with a vast noise of trumpets and other instru-
ments, attempted to break the line, to come at the ship in
which they supposed the British king to be. They were
received with a general shout, and during continual huzzas
the English poured such showers of arrows from their long
bows into the enemy's ships as soon covered their decks
with dead and wounded men, and put the whole fleet into
general consternation. The Great Christopher was taken
in the beginning of the battle, and all who were in her
were either killed or made prisoners. The English, on
this, filled her with archers, and sent her to annoy the
Genoese ships, which formed part of the French fleet. And
now death and destruction appeared on every side in their
most terrible array. The very air was darkened with arrows,
and the hostile ships rushing together, the men-at-arms
engaged in close fight.

The English, taking advantage of the confusion into
which they had put the French at the beginning of the
fight, soon boarded them with the help of their grappling-
irons, and pursuing their good fortune, obtained a complete
victory, though a most bloody one, as their loss amounted
to 4000 men killed and wounded. Great numbers of the
French sailors desperately threw themselves into the sea,
and submitted to a certain death rather than abide the
repeated showers of English arrows; what also might have
contributed more to this desperate resolution was that, on
board the ships captured in the heat of battle, no quarter

DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH. 51

was given. The engagement lasted from eight in the
morning till seven at night. The loss on the French side
was enormous, 230 of their ships being captured ; only
about 30 having escaped. According to the Frenchmen's
account of the battle, they lost two admirals, Bauchet,
who was killed in action, and De Kernel, who was taken
prisoner. King Edward behaved during the whole action
with the most inimitable courage and conduct ; regarding
neither danger nor fatigue, he was always present where
the battle raged the hottest.

During the night thirty French ships, endeavouring to
escape, were attacked by the English, and on board of one
of them, the James of Dieppe, after she had been engaged
the whole night with the Earl of Huntingdon, 400 dead
bodies were found. Certain old writers remark that the
rostrum or beak used by the Romans could not have existed
in the English ships, nor was the manoauvre employed by
which one ship attempts to break the oars of another.
From this they conclude that the English fleet must have
consisted of high-sided ships, worked chiefly by sails. Pro-
bably, however, they had oars also.

It is said that nearly 30,000 men were killed in this
memorable battle. So apparently irretrievable was the
disaster to the French that none of King Philip's coun-
sellors had the courage to inform him of what had occurred.
At length they bethought them of employing the court
fool to communicate the disastrous intelligence. Accord-
ingly, that dignified individual took an opportunity of
remarking to the king that he considered the English
arrant cowards.

" Why so, Master Wisdom ? " asked Philip.

" Why ? does your Majesty ask ? because they had not
the courage to leap into the sea and be drowned as our
brave Frenchmen did the other day, when your Majesty's
ships went to the bottom."

In 1350 the warrior king, on board his cog Thomas, led
his fleet to attack the Spaniards, who had ventured into
the British Channel ; he was accompanied by Edward, the
Black Prince, and numerous great personages, with nearly
four hundred knights. The king, attired in a black velvet

52 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

jacket and beaver hat, took post on the bow of his ship,
eagerly looking out for the enemy. As they did not appear,
to beguile the time he caused his minstrels to play a Ger-
man dance, and made Sir John Chandos, who had recently
introduced it, to sing with them. From time to time,
however, he looked aloft at the man stationed in the top
of the mast to announce the approach of the Spaniards.
At length they were seen, numbering forty large ships,
denominated carricks ; strong and handsome were they to
behold — each mast was adorned with rich standards and
banners, and their tops filled with soldiers and missiles.
They, however, it was evident, wished to avoid an action ;
but the king, leading his fleet, stood down upon them till
he reached a heavy ship, when, reckless of consequences,
he ordered the helmsman to lay her aboard. So violent
was the blow that the masts of the cog Thomas went over
the side, the men in the top were drowned, and the ship
sprang a dangerous leak. The Spaniard sheering off,
Edward grappled another enemy ; but now the cog Thomas
sinking, the king and his crew took possession of the prize.
In her he pushed into the thickest of the fight. The Prince
of Wales' ship, also nigh to sinking, had grappled her huge
adversary, when the Earl of Lancaster arriving and shout-
ing, " Derby to the rescue !" boarded and obtained posses-
sion of the Spaniard, throwing all who resisted into the
sea. Scarcely had the prince and his followers got on
board the prize, when his own ship foundered. Sir Robert
de Namur having grappled with a huge ship was carried
by her out from among the fleet; the two combatants
were rapidly leaving the rest of the ships astern, when Sir
Robert's valet, Hannekin, bravely cutting the halliards of
the principal sail, the English, taking advantage of the
confusion, boarded and drove the Spaniards into the sea.
Thus the Spanish fleet was completely beaten, and twenty-
six large ships captured.

The British seem to have been as prone in those days as
at present to seek for victory by laying the enemy on
board and trusting to the strength of their own arms. At
present, instead of battle-axes and clubs, or spears, or two-
handed swords, they have a fondness for their cutlasses and

ANCIENT AND MODERN FIGHTS CONTRASTED. 53

pistols. In f.he days, before Britannia could loudly roav
with her thunder, naval combats were carried on with
all the noise and hubbub the men on either side could
create with their voices, as also with the braying forth
of trumpets and beating of gongs and drums, in the hope
of thus striking terror into the hearts of their enemies.
How great is the contrast between such a naval engage-
ment as has been described and one at the present day.
In solemn silence the crews grimly stand at their guns,
stripped generally to the waist. Not a sound is heard,
not a word spoken, except perhaps one hearty cheer,
a response to the captain's brief address. Slowly and
steadily the hostile fleets approach each other till the
signal is given to commence the deadly strife, and then in
a moment, like fierce monsters awakened from sleep, they
send from their cannons' mouths a quick succession of
terrific roars, fire, and smoke, which laugh to scorn all the
trumpet braying and shouting of our ancestors.

After the famous battle of Crescy, King Edward laid
siege to Calais with a fleet of 738 ships, having on board
14,956 mariners, each of whom received 4d. per diem.
Of these ships, no more than 25 belonged actually to
the king. The latter carried about 419 seamen only,
which was not more than 17 seamen to each ship. Some,
however, had 25 seamen, and others less. Many of
the ships furnished by the maritime ports were larger
than the king's. The total cost of the war, which lasted
one year and 131 days, was £127,101, 2s. 9d., for even in
those romantic days people could not knock each other
on the head free of all charge, it must be remem-
bered. The mention of that £1, 2s. 9d. also shows that
their accounts must have been kept with most praise-
worthy exactness.

Only great nations, to whom victory has generally been
awarded by the God of battles, can afford to talk of their
defeats. Though in most cases successful, Edward's arms
met with a severe repulse before Rochelle, to the relief of
which place he had sent forty ships, under the young Earl
of Pembroke. "They were encountered by a French squad-
ron of forty sail of capital ships," we are told, "besides

54 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

thirteen able frigates, well manned, and commanded by four
experienced officers. The earl was taken prisoner, and nearly
every ship was captured or sunk." Though employed by
France, they were Spaniards, supplied by the King of
Castile. In addition to the large number of men-at-arms
on board the Spanish ships, whose weapons were cross-
bows and cannon, large bars of iron and lead were used.
The Spaniards bore down upon the small English ships
with loud shouts and great noise ; the English shouted in
return, but were unable to climb up the lofty sides of the
Spaniards. In the first day of the battle the Spaniards
lost two barges, and the next day the earl's ship was
attacked and captured by four large Spanish ships full
of soldiers, while most of his fleet were either taken or
destroyed.

Our national pride will make us examine narrowly to
discover the cause of this disaster. In the first place, the
earl, though brave, was inexperienced ; then some of those
forty French ships were larger than the forty English ships,
and the able frigates were quick rowing galleys, full of
men-at-arms, who must have done much mischief. The
French on this occasion also made use of balistas and
other machines for throwing bars of iron and great stones,
to sink the English ships. They had also in another way
got ahead of the English, for they had provided themselves
with cannon, which the latter had not as yet got. This
was the first naval engagement in which such engines of
destruction were employed.

History is read by the naval and military man, and
indeed by any one, to very little purpose, unless facts like
these are not only carefully noted, but duly acted on ; unless
we take warning by the errors and neglects of our prede-
cessors. It is not only necessary to be well-armed in
appearance, but to be as well armed in reality, as those are
with whom we may possibly be called to fight. It is wise
not only to adopt new inventions likely to be of service,
but if possible to have them already in use before they are
adopted by our enemies. The gun of those days was a
thick tube of wood, bound together with iron hoops, and
probably could send a shot of three or four pounds little

CANNON AS FIRST USED.

fir,

more than two or three hundred yards with veiy uncertain
aim. What a contrast to the " Woolwich Infant " of the
present day, with its shot of several hundredweight, whiz-
zing for five miles or more through the air, with almost
a certainty of hitting its object at the termination of its
journey.

CHAPTER IV.
itnb- Ccmmerte ia % HUijjtt 0f fjfctirg VII.

(FROM A.D. 1327 TO A.D. 1509.)

IN the early part of the reign of Edward the
Third, the French introduced cannon on board
their ships, chiefly in consequence of which his
fleet, under the young Earl of Pembroke, as
I have described, was defeated before Ro-
chelle. He took care, however, that this should not again
occur, and by the year 1338 he appears to have introduced
them on board most of his ships, and by the end of his
reign no ships of war were without them. Their employ-
ment, of course, effected a great change in naval warfare,
but a far greater revolution was about to take place in the
whole system of navigation, by the introduction of the
mariner's compass. I have before stated that if not dis-
covered it was at all events improved by Flavio Gioja, of
Amain, in the kingdom of Naples, about A.D. 1300. It
was soon discovered that the needle does not point, in all
places, truly to the North Pole, but that it varies consider-
ably in different degrees of longitude, and this is called the
variation of the needle. It has also another variation,
called the declination, or dip. The cause of these phe-
nomena is still utterly unknown. The means of steering
with almost perfect accuracy across the pathless ocean,
gave a confidence to mariners, when they lost sight of land,
which they had never before possessed, and in time induced
them to launch forth in search of new territories in hitherto
W

VOYAGE OF NICHOLAS OF LYNK. 57

unexplored regions. The English were, however, too much
occupied with foreign wars or domestic broils to attend
much to navigation. We hear of a certain Nicholas of
Lynn, a friar of Oxford, who, A.D. 1360, just sixty years
after the use of the compass became known, sailed in charge
of certain ships to visit and explore all the islands to the
north of Europe. He, it is said, returned and laid before
King Edward the Third an account of his discoveries in
those northern regions, but what they were or what bene-
fit resulted from them, history does not tell us. Father
Nicholas's knowledge of navigation was probably some-
what limited and not very practical, and it is just probable
that his voyage was not so extensive as it was intended to
be ; but that, having the pen of a ready writer, he drew on
his imagination for a description of the countries he was
supposed to have surveyed. At all events, we hear of no
voyage undertaken at the sovereign's instigation till nearly
two centuries later.

In the reign of Edward the Third, the Island of Madeira
is said to have been discovered by a certain Lionel Machin,
a citizen of London. The young citizen had been paying
court to a lady, Arabella Darcy, whose father indignantly
refused his suit ; and not without reason, if we may judge
of his character by his subsequent conduct. He collected
a band of rovers and pursued the fair Arabella, who had
gone to live in the neighbourhood of Bristol. He had fixed
his eyes on a ship ready prepared for sea, the crew of which
were on shore. Securing the lady, he carried her on board
the ship, cut the cables, and made sail to the southward,
without leave of the captain or owners. He met with due
punishment, for, having made the then unknown island of
Madeira, and he and Arabella having landed, the ship was
driven to sea by a gale, leaving the two alone. She soon
died of starvation, and when his companions ultimately
returned, they found him in a sinking state, and buried him
by the hapless damsel's side. A Portuguese captain hearing
from the English pirates of the discovery of the island,
sailed thither, and took possession of it in the name of his
sovereign, Don John, and the infant Don Henry.

This account of Machin's adventures is doubted by many.

58 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

but at all events it must be said that it is very much in
accordance with the style of doing things in those days.
Richard the Second began to reign A.D. 1377. Although
probably no improvement took place in shipbuilding dur-
ing his reign, it is not altogether destitute of nautical
exploits. The maladministration of Government at the
latter period of his grandfather's life, left the people in a
discontented state, and this induced the French to make a
descent on the English coast with a fleet of fifty ships, com-
manded by the Admiral de Vienne. They plundered and
burnt Rye in Sussex, levied a contribution of a thousand
marks on the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, and finished
off by burning Plymouth, Dartmouth, Portsmouth, and
Hastings.

They were sufficiently long about these proceedings to
enable the Abbot of Battle to fit out a fleet, with which he
met them off Winchelsea, and completely defeated them.
Their example was, however, followed by a body of Scotch
pirates, who, with a number of ships under a Captain
Mercer, ravaged the east coast of England. The Govern-
ment, occupied with the coronation of the king, paid no
attention to these insults.

Indignant at this state of things, a wealthy and truly
patriotic citizen and merchant of London, John Philpot, at
his own expense, fitted out a fleet manned by a thousand
men, and set sail in person in quest of the pirate. He suc-
ceeded in coming up with him, and in bringing him to
action, when he not only completely defeated him, but
made him prisoner, capturing his entire fleet, as well as
retaking all his English prizes, and fifteen richly-laden
French and Spanish vessels. On his return, instead of
being thanked, the gallant Philpot was tried for a mis-
demeanour, but so entirely did he succeed in vindicating
his character, and so evident were the services he had
rendered to the public, that he ultimately received the
thanks and honours which were his due.

These circumstances should be borne in mind, for people
of the present day are apt to fancy that the shores of Old
England, since the time of the Danes perhaps, have ever
been free from insult and annoyance, whereas we see that

COASTS OF ENGLAND INSULTED BY THE FRENCH. 59

our neighbours across the channel have managed, whenever
they have had the opportunity, without being so very sea-
sick, to effect a very considerable amount of both one and
the other.

A fleet, also, was sent to take possession of Cherbourg,
which had been mortgaged by the King of Navarre to the
English. The expedition was under the command of Philip
and Peter Courtray. It was, however, encountered by a
far superior Spanish squadron, which the English attacked
with great fury, but Philip Courtray was severely wounded,
and his brother Peter, who was taken prisoner with a
number of knights and gentlemen, was never again heard
of, numbers also losing their lives. While a large fleet
under the Duke of Lancaster sailed to retrieve the loss,
and was laying siege to St. Malo, the French were ravaging
the coasts of Cornwall. While, also, the Duke of Bucking-
ham was in France, a fleet of French and Spanish galleys
sailed up the Thames as far as Gravesend, which they
plundered and burnt, as well as other places on the Kentish
shore. Leaving the Thames, they sailed along the west
coast, plundering and burning as they went. They were,
however, met by a west country fleet, fitted out to attack
them, and pursued to the Irish coast, where many
were captured, and their prizes retaken. Still a sufficient
force escaped to plunder and burn Winchelsea on their
return.

On the accession of Charles the Sixth to the throne of
France, he resolved to put in execution a scheme formed
by his father to drive the English out of France by invading
England itself. For this purpose, he purchased of various
nations a fleet of 1600 sail to carry across an immense army
which he had raised for the purpose. To defend his king-
dom, Richard raised an army of 100,000 men, horse and
foot, and equipped a fleet, placed under the command of
the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham. Portsmouth and
Plymouth fitted out small fleets of privateers, which sailed
up the Seine, and made many prizes. Although there was
no general engagement, the French fleet were cut off in
detail, and in consequence of the strenuous efforts made by
the English, the intended invasion was abandoned.

60 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Henry the Fourth began to reign A.D. 1399. The
French, in 1402, sent a fleet to assist Owen Glendowyr with
an army of 12,000 men. They put into Milford Haven,
and plundered the neighbourhood ; but a fleet fitted out
by the Cinque Ports, under Lord Berkley and Harry Percy,
arrived there in time to capture fourteen of them before
they had time to make their escape.

The principal admiral in this reign was Admiral Beau-
fort. He was styled Admiral of all the King's Fleet, both
to the north and west ; and among many other offices, he
held those of Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the
Cinque Ports.

The fifth Henry, with whose name the famous victory
of Agincourt over the French will ever be associated,
began to reign A.D. 1413. He was so much occupied with
his wars in France for the greater part of his reign, that
he paid but little attention to naval affairs beyond obtain-
ing the transports necessary to convey his armies across
the channel. While he was carrying on his conquests in
France, part of the French fleet came over and blockaded
the English ships collected at Portsmouth and Southamp-
ton, and made an attempt to land on the Isle of Wight.
They were, however, driven back with loss. Henry had, in
the meantime, taken possession of Harfleur on the Seine.
He was besieged by the French both by land and sea.
The king accordingly despatched his brother the Duke of
Bedford with a fleet of 500 ships, containing 20,000 men,
to the relief of the town. They found the enemy's fleet, in
which were several large Genoese carracks, lying before
the haven of Harfleur, and pressing the siege with all
possible vigour. As no relief could be given to the town
without forcing a passage through the French fleet, an
engagement was unavoidable. The English began the
attack, and though the French maintained the fight for
some hours, they gave way at last, and were totally
defeated. Five hundred vessels were taken or sunk,
together with five of the Genoese carracks, and nearly
20,000 men are reported to have been killed. The whole
English fleet entered the port in triumph, and carried 3,
§easonable relief to the town,

ENGAGEMENT WITH FLEETS OF FRANCE AND GENOA. Cl

Another important naval battle was fought during
Henry's reign. Before he commenced his great and success-
ful expedition to Normandy, which province he regained
for the crown of England, after it had been lost for 215
years since the reign of King John, he despatched the

GENOESE CARRACK.

Earl of Huntingdon with a fleet of about 100 sail to scour
the seas, that his transports might cross without molestation.
At this time the Duke of Genoa had, in consequence of a
treaty made with France, supplied the French government
with a squadron, consisting of eight large carracks, and as

62 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

many galleys, which had on board 600 crossbowmen,
under the command of John Grimaldi. These had united
with the French fleet, consisting of 100 tall ships, and
commanded by the Bastard of Bourbon. The Earl of
Huntingdon speedily came up with the united fleets of
France and Genoa at the mouth of the Seine. The engage-
ment was long and desperate ; the Genoese sustained the
brunt of the engagement, their ships being larger and
better formed than the French. One carrack especially,
commanded by Lawrence Foglietta resisted the attacks of
seven English ships. The English ships, it appears, were
furnished with stages, which could be let down on the
decks of the vessels they were attacking, so as to form a
bridge across into them. Foglietta's ship was at length
disengaged from her enemy by the dexterity of a sailor,
who cut the cordage with which the stage had been
secured to her side. Notwithstanding, however, all the
efforts of the Genoese, who are in this instance their own
historians, the French and they were completely defeated.
John de Franguemont, the son of the vice-admiral, was
slain, the Bastard of Bourbon was taken prisoner, and four,
if not six, of the Genoese carracks fell into the hands of
the English. On board of the carracks was a sum of
money, the wages of the whole fleet for three months, the
English accounts say for six months. They also assert
that three carracks were taken and three sunk. This was
a great victory, and it is evident that the enemy were
numerically superior to the victors. This is the only
account I have met with in which mention is made of
stages or bridges used by the English to enable them to
board the ships of the enemy. The carracks spoken of
were undoubtedly large and powerful ships compared to
those in general use at that period. The Genoese were at
that time, and for long continued, the first maritime people
in Europe, and from their shipwrights and seamen, as well
as from the captured ships, the English obtained many of
the improvements which were soon afterwards brought
into the art of shipbuilding in England.

Henry died on the 31st of August, 1422, aged thirty-
three years, worn out with the fatigues of his late cam-

COMMERCE OF ENGLAND IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 63

paign in Normandy. He had reigned nine years, five
months, and eleven days.

I have before me a curious history in verse relating to
navigation and nautical affairs, written during the reign of
Henry, entitled De Polltia, conservativa Maris. The
author, in his preface, urges the importance of England
maintaining the dominion of the channel.

" The true process of English policy,
Of utterward to keep this regne in -
Of our England, that no man may deny,
Nor say of sooth but it is one of the best,
Is this that who seeth south, north, east, and west,
Cherish merchandise, keep the Admiralty
That we be masters of the narrow sea.

*****
For if this sea be kept in time of war,
Who can here pass without danger and woe ?
What merchandise may forby be ago 1
For needs him must take trewes every foe :
Flanders, and Spain, and other, trust to me
Or else hindered all for this narrow sea."

The whole poem is very curious, and full of information
respecting the commerce of England in those days. It
shows us how extensive it had already become, and how
much alive the British merchants were to its importance,
although the monarchs and chief nobles, madly engaged in
civil wars or foreign conquests, did their utmost to destroy
it, instead of endeavouring to protect and improve it. The
more we study history, the more we shall be convinced
that England owes her present greatness and prosperity to
the enlightened energy and perseverance of her merchants
and manufacturers, and the seamen of the mercantile
marine.

Without them her brave armies and navies could not
have been created or maintained, nor won the renown
which England proudly claims.

"From Spain," says our poetical author, "we import
figs, raisins, wine, dates, liquorice, oil, grains, white pastil
soap, wax, iron, wool, wadmolle, goat-fell, kid-fell, saffron,
and quicksilver.

" From Flanders, iliie cloth of Ypre and Curtike, fine

64 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

cloth of all colours, fustian, linen cloth ; for which England
returns wool and tin.

"From Portugal, always in unity with England, we
obtain wine, osey, wax, grain, figs, raisins, honey, cord-
meynes, dates, salt, hides.

" With Bretaigne we deal in salt, wine, crest cloth, and
canvas ; but this is only of late years, for the Bretons were
noted pirates, and greatly interrupted the navigation of
this kingdom, both by taking the merchant-ships and
plundering and burning the towns on the sea-coast, till
Edward the Third granted letters of reprisal to the inhabi-
tants of Dartmouth, Plymouth, and Fowey, which obliged
the Duke of Bretaigne to sue for peace and engage for the
future good behaviour of his subjects."

Here we have an example of the advantage of allowing
people who possess the sinews of war to take care of them-
selves. We may depend on it they will, in most instances,
give a good account of their proceedings.

The same principle may be applied to our larger colonies
at the present day, and we may have little fear that if
attacked they will maintain their independence, and the
honour of the British name.

" We trade with Scotland for felts, hides, and wool in the
fleece ; and with Prussia, High Germany, and the east
countries for beer, bacon, almond, copper, bow-staves, steel,
wax, pelt ware, pitch, tar, peats, flax, cotton, thread, fustian,
canvas, cards, buckram, silver plate, silver wedges, and metal.

" From Genoa we import most of the articles which we
now procure from Africa, and which come in large ships
called carracks, such as cloth of gold, silk, black pepper,
and good gold of Genne (Guinea)."

Our author does not at all approve of the articles which
were imported from Venice and Florence. They were very
similar, in some respects, to those which now come from
France, and without which, most undoubtedly, we could do
ver^ well.

" The great gallies of Venice and Florence
Be well laden with things of complacence,
AUspicery and of grocer's ware,
With sweet wines, all manner of chaffare ;

NAVAL EXPLOITS OF THE EARL OF WARWICK. G5

Apes and japes, and marmusets tailed,

Nifles and trifles that little have availed,

And things with which they featly blear our eye,

With things not enduring that we buy ;

For much of this chaffare that is wastable,

Might be forborne for dear and deceivable."

On the death of his father, August, 1422, the unfortunate
Henry the Sixth, when not a year old, was proclaimed
King of England and heir of France, and when eight years
of age he was crowned both in London and Paris. No
improvements in naval affairs were introduced during his
inglorious and disastrous reign. The chief battle at sea
was fought by a fleet under the command of the famous
king-maker, the Earl of Warwick. In the Straits of Dover
he encountered a fleet of Genoese and Lubeck ships laden
with Spanish merchandise, and under the convoy of five
carracks. Of these he captured six, and sunk or put to
flight twenty-six more, took numerous prisoners, and slew
a thousand men, while his prize-money amounted to
£10,000, an enormous sum in those days, when the whole
revenue of England did not exceed at one time £5000.

The Earl of Warwick was soon afterwards, with his fleet,
instrumental in dethroning Henry, and placing Edward of
Lancaster on the throne, under the title of Edward the
Fourth. It was not, however, till the victory of Tewkes-
bury placed the crown securely on his brows that Edward
was able to turn his attention to naval affairs. In the
year 1475, having resolved to make war on France, he
collected at Sandwich five hundred flat-bottomed vessels,
in which he purposed to carry his army across the channel.
He succeeded, indeed, in transporting them to the French
coast, but the King of France suing for peace, and under-
taking to pay a large tribute to England, he returned home.
By similar means he brought the King of Scotland to sub-
mission. He granted many privileges to merchants trading
to foreign countries, and encouraged commerce by every
means in his power.

It is scarcely necessary to allude to the reign of his son,
poor young Edward the Fifth, who had worn the crown
but two months, when it was grasped by his uncle, Richard

66 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the Third, who was crowned at Westminster on the 5th of
July, 1483.

When threatened with an invasion of England by the
Earl of Richmond, he kept a powerful fleet in readiness to
defend the shores of his kingdom. On hearing, however,
that the earl had been driven off the coast, he very
unwisely laid up most of his ships, and disbanded the
greater part of his army. On discovering this, the saga-
cious earl immediately embarked all the forces he could
collect in a few transports, and, landing at Milford
Haven, gained the battle of Bosworth, which placed
the crown of England on his head, and in which Richard
lost his life.

Since old Nicholas of Lynn's expedition to the northern
regions of the world in the reign of Edward the Third up
to this period, no voyages of discovery had been performed
under the patronage of Government ; and probably but
little, if any, improvement had taken place in marine
architecture. A new era was about to commence, which
was to see the establishment of England's naval glory.
Other European nations were at that time far in advance
of our country as regarded all affairs connected with the
sea. It was a period rife with maritime adventure and
enterprise. Men began to perceive that there were other
achievements more glorious than those which the sword
could accomplish, more calculated, at all events, to bring
wealth into their coffers.

It was now that the ardent, bold, and sagacious spirit of
Columbus devised the scheme for reaching India by the
west, which resulted in the discovery of a new world. In
1485, having fully instructed his brother Bartholomew in
his intended project, he sent him to England in order that
he might apply to Henry, under the belief that the king
would at once embrace his proposals. Unfortunately, he fell,
it is said, into the hands of pirates, who stripped him of all
he had ; and on his reaching England in poverty he was
attacked with a fever, which caused a still further delay.
When he recovered he had to raise funds for his purpose
by making and selling maps, and thus it was not till 1488
that he was in a condition to present himself before the

FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 67

king. He was, however, then well received, and an
arrangement was made by which Christopher Columbus
was to proceed on a voyage of discovery under the flag of
England. Circumstances occurred to prevent the accom-
plishment of this plan, and Henry lost the glory he would
have gained as the supporter of one of the greatest and
truest heroes who has ever figured on the page of history.
This honour was reserved for Ferdinand and Isabella of
Spain, who, on the 17th of April, 1492, signed the articles
of agreement with the Genoese navigator at the little town
of Santa Fd, in the kingdom of Grenada.

The squadron prepared for this expedition, which was
to prove of such mighty importance to the world in general,
consisted but of three vessels, carrying in all but 120 men.
I will describe them, as they give us some idea of the
vessels of that period, and which were considered fit, by
the mariners of those days, to contend with the stormy
winds and waves they would in all probability have to
encounter on so long a voyage. There was, first, the
admiral's ship, called by him the Santa Maria, a carrack,
or a ship with a deck. The second was the Pinta, com-
manded by Martin Alonso Pincon; and the third the
Ninna of which Viconte Yannes Pinson was master.
These two were carvels, which are described as open vessels
without decks. I suspect, however, that they must have
been nearly, if not entirely, decked over — in fact, that they
were what are now called flush-decked vessels, while pro-
bably the carrack was a frigate-built ship, or, at all events,
a ship with a high poop and forecastle. Supposing the
carrack to have carried sixty men, and the carvels thirty
each, how could all the necessary stores, provisions, and
water have been stowed away for those thirty, unless in a
vessel of good size ? or how could they have been protected
from wet unless below a deck ?

Carvels were strongly built craft, and we still speak of
a vessel being carvel, or ship-built. I therefore do not
hold to the idea that the two consorts of Columbus's ship
were little better than open boats, but believe that they
were stout, well-formed vessels, not so utterly unworthy of
the great sovereigns who sent forth the expedition. Eight

68 POPULAR HIStORt Of THE BRITISH

honoured was the little town of Palos, whence it sailed on
Friday, 3rd August, 1492.

Henry, although he had lost this great opportunity of
increasing his renown, wisely perceived that in no way
could he more effectually gain the respect of his subjects
and consolidate his power than by affording every encour-
agement to naval enterprise, and to the extension of
commerce. He therefore gladly listened to a proposal to
search for certain lands said to exist in the north-west,
made by John Cabot, a Venetian by birth, settled at
Bristol. A commission, signed in 1496, was granted to
him and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius,
who were skilful in navigation and cosmography.

The record is as follows : — " The King, upon the third
day of February, in the thirteenth year of his reign ; gave
license to John Cabot to take six English ships, in any
haven or havens of the realm of England, being of the
burden of 200 tons or under, with all necessary furniture;
and to take, also, into the said ships, all such masters,
mariners, and subjects of the King as might be willing to
go with him."

The expedition sailed early in the year 1497, and
reached the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland, in June of
the same year. There is some doubt whether the father,
John, was alive at that time, so that the more celebrated
Sebastian has the credit of the discovery. At all events,
he performed several successful voyages in the same
direction, and made many important discoveries. Thus,
though the Spaniards claim the honour of being the
discoverers of the middle portion of the great continent
of America, there can be no doubt that the English were
the first visitors to its northern shores, where many
millions of their descendants are now established.

Henry, with his usual sagacity, saw the advantage of
having a fleet of ships exclusively fitted for war, instead
of drawing off those which might be well calculated for
the purposes of commerce, but were not, from their con-
struction, suited to stand the brunt of battle. He could
not but perceive, besides this, that by employing the
merchant-vessels, as ba,d before been done, for the purposes

NAVY OF HENRY THE SEVENTH. 09

of fighting, he crippled the merchants in their commercial
pursuits, and prevented them from supplying him with
the sinews of war. He desired also to have a permanent
fleet ready, should war break out, to protect the coasts of
his kingdom from foreign invasion. The first ship he
built was called the Great Harry. She cost £14,000.
She had four masts, a high poop and forecastle, in which
were placed numerous guns, turning inbo?»*d and outwards.
She had only one tier of guns on the upper-deck, as ports
were not used in those days. She was, however, what

SHIP OF THE TIME OF HENRV THE EIGHTH.

would now be called frigate-built. She was burnt by
accident at, Woolwich in 1553. The Great Harry may
properly be considered the first ship of what is now
denominated the Royal Navy. There is a model of her
in Somerset House, and there are numerous prints of her
which give a notion of what she was like. Few seamen
of the present day, I fancy, would wish to go to sea in a

70 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

similar craft. I certainly used to doubt that such a
vessel could have ventured out of harbour at all, till I
saw the Chinese junk which was brought to the Thames
all the way round from China, and which, in appearance
and construction, is not very dissimilar to what, from her
model, the Great Harry must have been, except in point
of size. She probably did not measure much less than
1000 tons ; she must have been, therefore, about the size
of a modern frigate.

CHAPTER V.

(FROM A.D. 1509 TO A.D. 1558.)

O sovereign of England was ever proclaimed
with more universal joy than was Henry the
Eighth, when, at the age of eighteen, he
succeeded to the throne of his father, A.D.
1509. Tyrant and despot as he became at
home, he did not neglect the interests of commerce, while
he maintained the honour of England abroad. He made
very great improvements in the work his father had
commenced. By his prerogative, and at his own expense,
he settled the constitution of the present Royal Navy.
An Admiralty and Navy Office were established, and com-
missioners to superintend naval affairs were appointed
by him.

Regular salaries were settled for admirals, vice-admirals,
captains, and seamen, and the sea-service at this time
became a distinct and regular profession.

In 1512, Henry, having entered into a league with
Spain against France, fitted out a fleet under the com-
mand of Sir Edward Howard, Lord High Admiral, and by
an indenture, dated 8th of April of that year, granted him
the following allowance : — For his own maintenance, diet,
wages, and rewards, ten shillings a-day. For each of the
captains, for their diet, wages, and rewards, eighteenpence
a-day. For every soldier, mariner, and gunner, five shillings
a-month for his wages, and five shillings for his victuals,
reckoning twenty-eight days in the month. But the
admiral, captains, officers, and men had also further allov1-

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

ances, under the denomination of dead shares. I doubt
whether the naval officers and men of the present day
would be satisfied with a similar amount of pay. Cer-
tainly the mariners of those days had more dangers and
hardships to encounter than have those of the present time
under ordinary circumstances. That year Henry's fleet
consisted of forty-five ships, of which the largest was the
Regent, of 1000 tons ; the two next in size being the
Sovereign and the Mary Eose, of about 500 tons each.

THE REGENT AND CORDELIER.

War was now declared against France, and the English
fleet put to sea under the command of Sir Edward
Howard. It carried a considerable body of land forces,
under the command of the Earl of Dorset, which were
landed at the Port of Passages, in Spain. Afterwards,
being reinforced by a number of stout ships, the admiral
sailed for Brest, in the hopes of encountering the French.
Sir William Knevet had command of the Regent, and

ENGAGEMENT OFF BREST. 73

Sir Charles Brandon, who had sixty of the tallest yeomen
of the Guard under him, commanded the Sovereign. The
fleet arrived off Brest just as the French fleet, consisting of
thirty-nine sail, was coming out of the harbour. On seeing
the enemy, Sir Edward made the signal for an immediate
engagement. Scarcely was the signal seen, than the Regent
and the Cordelier, the latter being the largest ship in
the French navy, attacked each other as if by mutual
consent. The Cordelier, it is said, carried 1200 soldiers.
Undoubtedly her commander hoped to carry the English
ship by boarding. In the course of the action, when
locked in a deadly embrace with their grappling-irons,
another English ship threw into the Cordelier a quantity
of combustibles, or fire-works, as they were called, and set
her on fire. In vain the crew of the Regent endeavoured
to free their ship from her perilous position. The maga-
zine of the Cordelier was reached, and she and the Regent
went up into the air together. In the Regent, Sir William
Knevet and 700 men were lost, and in the Cordelier, Sir
Pierce Morgan, her captain, and 900 of her crew are sup-
posed to have perished. After this dreadful catastrophe
the action ceased ; the French, horror-stricken, hurriedly
making their way into Brest. The ships, also, of both
parties, had received considerable damage.

Although cannon had been employed on board ships
since the time of Edward the Third, this was probably one
of the first sea-fights in which they were used by both
parties on board all the ships engaged. Even on this
occasion the combatants seem to have trusted more to
their battle-axes and swords than to their artillery. The
French give a different account of this battle. They say
that an English ship having discharged a quantity of fire-
works into the Cordelier, she caught fire, when her Breton
commander, finding that the conflagration could not be
extinguished, and determined not to perish alone, made
up to the English admiral and grappled her, when they
blew up into the air together. On this the two fleets
separated by mutual consent.

The following year another fleet of forty-two men-of-
war, under the command of the Lord High Admiral, sailed

74 POPULAK HISTOEY OF THE BRITISH XAVY.

for Brest, when the French squadron was found at anchor,
protected by batteries on shore, and a line of twenty-four
hulks chained together across the harbour's mouth. The
admiral, however, making a feint with his boats, drew
the enemy down to the shore, when he ran up past the
batteries, and ravaged the country round the town. The
French had been waiting the arrival of six galleys from
the Mediterranean, under Monsieur Pregent.

I cannot refrain from giving the first account I have
met with of what may properly be called a cutting-out
expedition. While the English fleet were at Brest, Mon-
sieur Pregent arrived on the coast with six galleys and four
foists, and, apprehensive of being attacked by the enemy,
he entered the Bay of Conquet, which was the nearest
place to Brest. He here placed his squadron between two
rocks, on which he mounted cannon and threw up a breast-
work. Notwithstanding the advantageous position of this
squadron, the Lord High Admiral resolved to attack it.
He had two galleys in his fleet. He went on board one
of these, and entrusted the other to Lord Rivers. He had,
besides, only two large barges and two boats. With these,
on the 25th of April, he boldly ventured into the Bay of
Conquest to attack the French galleys. He no sooner came
abeam of the galley commanded by Monsieur Pregent,
than, ordering his vessel to be lashed alongside, he boarded
her sword in hand, followed only by Don Carroz, a Spanish
cavalier, and seventeen of his men. He appeared at first
to be gaining the day ; but, by some accident, his galley
swinging loose, he and his followers, deprived of all succour,
were so hard pressed by the enemy that they were driven
headlong into the sea. Lord Ferrers, who had during this
time been engaging the enemy without success, seeing the
admiral's galley fall off, retreated. When, however, Lord
Howard was missed, a flag of truce was sent to the French
commander, who replied that only one seaman had escaped
death, and that the admiral and the rest of his companions
had been forced overboard. After this the English fleet
returned home. In a short time Monsieur Pregent, flushed
with success, ravaged the coast of Sussex ; but was driven
away by Sir Thomas Howard, who succeeded his brother

PORT HOLES INTRODUCED. 75

as Lord High Admiral. In the year 1514, the ever-active
Pregent again paid the Sussex coast a visit, and burnt
Brighthelmstone, as Brighton was then called. In return
for this compliment, Sir John Wallop was sent with a fleet
to the coast of Normandy, where he burnt twenty-one
towns and villages. In consequence of the energetic and
summary way in which he carried out his system of
retaliation, those who have imitated him have been said to
" wallop " the enemy. To replace the Regent destroyed
in the terrible way above described, the king built a ship
at Erith in 1515, and called her the Henri Grdce de
Dieu. She was of 1000 tons burden, and manned with
301 mariners, 50 gunners, and 349 soldiers. Up to that
period, when ships were to be manned in a hurry, soldiers
were sent on board to do the duty of seamen as best they
could, and generals were turned into admirals at very short
notice. However, it would be more correct to say that the .
fighting was done chiefly by soldiers, and consequently that
military officers went to command them, while the ships
were navigated by professional seamen, who had their own
sea officers, though generally of an inferior grade, over
them. A vestige of this custom still remains in the Royal
Navy. On board every ship, besides the captain and his
lieutenants, there is a sailing-master, who has also his
mates or assistants, who have especial charge of the navi-
gation of the ship. Formerly the captain and his lieu-
tenants were not of necessity seamen. Now, they are so
by profession, though they still retain a remnant of their
military character. In time, probably, the last represen-
tative of the master-of-the-mariners, as he was called, will
disappear from the British navy — it being the duty of the
lieutenants to attend to the navigation of the ship, as they
do now to the management in every other respect.

One of the wisest acts of Henry the Eighth was making
the sea-service a regular profession — though long after his
time ships, and even fleets, were commanded by men who
had hitherto lived and fought only on shore. About the
year 1545 port-holes were generally introduced on board
the larger ships. Before that time the guns were fought
over the bulwarks, or were alone placed on the forecastle,

70 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and the aftercastle, which latter portion of the ship is now
called the poop. This word poop is evidently derived from
the Latin puppis, as originally the after-part of a ship was
called by the Romans, and thence the name was given to
the ship herself, a part being taken for the whole. The
ports were, however, placed not more than sixteen inches
from the water, so close, indeed, as greatly to peril the
ship. It was in consequence of this faulty construction
that the Mary Rose of sixty guns, one of the largest
ships in the British navy, heeling over to a squall while
encountering the French at Spithead, was capsized, when
her captain, Sir George Carew, and upwards of 500 of his
men, perished in the waves. As late as the year 1835,
Mr. Deane, by means of his ingenious invention, the diving-
bell, was enabled to recover several guns, parts of the wreck,
and some stone-shot of the Mary Rose.

Ships generally carried but few guns. A writer, describ-
ing a battle which took place off the Isle of Wight, and
which lasted two hours, when upwards of ninety ships were
engaged, speaks of 800 shot being fired, to prove how
desperate was the contest. I have before me an account
of the battle in which the Mary Rose was lost, not, as
the French say, in consequence of their fire, but because
it was attempted to keep her ports open when a consider-
able sea was running, and a strong breeze had suddenly
sprung up. The French king had sent over a large fleet
to annoy the English coasts. Henry, hearing of the
expedition, hurried down to Portsmouth to hasten the
equipment of 100 sail, which he had ordered to be got
ready. The French appearing, the English sailed out to
St. Helen's to meet them. A squall came on, and the
Mary Rose foundering, the Great Harry which was
attacked by the French row-galleys, bore the brunt of the
action. The French quickly retired, though they attempted
to make a lodgment on the Isle of Wight, but were com-
pelled to return to their ships. The English are described
as using pinances, which are vessels of great length and
little beam, moving very rapidly, and fitted both with sails
and oars. We hear, also, that the Carracon the ship of
the French Admiral, was destroyed by fire before the fleet

ENGLISH AND FRENCH VESSELS CONTRASTED. 77

left their coasts. She is described as appearing like a
castle among the other ships of the fleet, and so strong
that she had nothing to fear at sea but fire and rocks. It
is stated that she had 100 brass cannon on board ; but as
she was not more than 800 tons burden, they must have
been very small ones. Still', it is certain that she was the
stoutest ship possessed by the French.

From a French account of one of the attacks made on
the English fleet before Portsmouth, we ascertain the
character of the galleys employed by the French. We are
told that they were worked by oars, and we read that so
many galley-slaves were killed. It is said, also, that " the
galleys had all the advantage of working that they could
desire, to the great damage of the English, who, for want
of wind, not being able to stir, lay exposed to the French
cannon, and being so much higher and bulkier than their
galleys, hardly a shot missed them ; while the galleys,
with the help of their oars, shifted at pleasure, and thereby
avoided the danger of the enemy's artillery." The same
writer says that, later in the day, " the violence of the
wind, and the swelling of the sea, would deprive us of our
galleys." We thus see at once that these galleys, though
from their lightness easily manoeuvred in smooth water,
were unfit to buffet with the winds and waves. They were
probably similar to the galleys I have before described, and
which for centuries were in use in the Mediterranean.

Another writer says : " A gale arising, the French galleys
were in danger, the English ships bearing down upon them
with full sail, a danger from which they escaped purely by
the skill and experience of their commanders, and the
intrepidity of the Prior of Capua, who exposed his galley
with undaunted courage, and freed himself from danger
with equal address." The title of Prior of Capua sounds
oddly enough when applied to a naval commander. From
these accounts it would appear that the English ships were
more powerful than those of the French, and were better
calculated to stand the brunt of battle than to chase a
nimble enemy, as the French seem to have been. The
larger ships in the British navy were at that time fitted
with four masts, like the Henri Grace de Dieu.

78 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Though the yards and sails were unwieldy, the rigging
heavy, and the top hamper prodigious, we find that they
were tending towards the form they had assumed when
Howe, Jervis, and Nelson led our fleets to victory.

They had short stout masts, a vast number of shrouds
to support them, and large heavy round tops on which a
dozen men or more could stand. The sterns were orna-
mented with a profusion of heavy carved-work, and they
had great lanterns stuck up at the taffrail, as big, almost, as
sentry-boxes, while the forecastle still somewhat resembled
the building from which it took its name. This vast
amount of woodwork, rising high above the surface of the
water, was very detrimental to the sailing qualities of ships,
and must have caused the loss of many. What sailors call
fore-and-aft sails had already been introduced, and we hear
constantly of ships beating to windward, and attempting to
gain the weather-gage. In those days a great variety of
ordnance were employed, to which our ancestors gave the
odd-sounding names of cannon, demi-cannon, culverins,
demi-culverins, sakers, mynions, falcons, falconets, port-
piece-halls, port-piece-chambers, fowler-halls, and curthalls.
These guns varied very much in length and in the weight
of their shot. When a ship is spoken of as carrying fifty
or sixty guns it must be understood that every description
of ordnance on board was included, so that a very erroneous
idea would be formed, if we pictured a ship of sixty guns
of those days as in any way resembling in size a third, or
even a fourth rate at the end of the last century. An old
author says : " By the employment of Italian shipwrights,
and by encouraging his own people to build strong ships of
war to carry great ordnance, Henry established a puissant
navy, which, at the end of his reign, consisted of seventy-
one vessels, whereof thirty were ships of burdenx and con-
tained in all 10,550 tons, and two were galleys, and the rest
were small barks and row-barges, from eighty tons down
to fifteen tons, which served in rivers and for landing men."

Stone shot had hitherto been used both at sea and on
shore, but about the middle of the century they were super-
seded by iron shot. About the same period matchlocks
were introduced on board ships.

THE ADMIRALTY BOARD ESTABLISHED. 79

An Act was passed in this reign encouraging merchants
to build ships fit for men-of-war, such ships being exempt
from certain duties, the owners also receiving from the
king, when he required them, twelve shillings per ton
a-month.

Henry the Eighth established an Office of Admiralty,
with a Navy Office, under certain commissioners ; arid
appointed regular salaries, not only for his admirals and
vice-admirals, but for his captains and seamen. This esta-
blished the system, pursued with various alterations, for the
maintenance of the Royal Navy. These regulations and
appointments encouraged the English to consider the sea
as a means of providing for their children, and from this
time forward we have a constant series of eminent officers
in the Royal Navy, many of them noblemen of the first
distinction. Among the most celebrated in this reign were
Sir Edward Howard, his brother Sir Thomas Howard,
afterwards Earl of Surrey, Sir William Fitzwilliams, after-
wards Earl of Southampton, and John Russell, first Earl
of Bedford. The most eminent navigator in the reign of
Edward the Sixth was Sebastian Cabot, son of John Cabot,
who, under Henry the Seventh, discovered Newfoundland.
Nothing was done concerning trade without consulting
him; he was at the head of the merchant adventurers, and
governor of a company formed to find out a passage by the
north to the East Indies. Among the regulations for the
government of the fleet destined for the voyage to Cathay
were several which show a considerable amount of worldly
wisdom and sound so quaint, that I am tempted to quote
a few of them. Clause 22 — " Item — not to disclose to any
nation the state of our religion, but to pass it over in silence
without any declaration of it, seeming to bear with such
laws and rites as the place hath where you shall arrive."
Item 23 — "Forasmuch as our people and ships may appear
unto them strange and wondrous, and theirs also to ours,
it is to be considered how they may be used, learning much
of their nature and dispositions by some one such person
whom you may first either allure or take to be brought on
board your ship." Item 24 — " The persons so taken to be
well entertained, used, and apparelled, to be set on land

80 POPtfLAR HISTORY OF T&E fefelTJ&H

to the intent he or she may allure others to draw nigh to
show the commodities ; and if the person taken may be
made drunk with your beer or wine, you shall know the
secrets of his heart."

Under the judicious management of Sebastian Cabot,
the Russian Company was established, though their charter
was not granted till the year 1555. Among other dis-
coverers and navigators Captain Wyndham merits notice,
having opened up a trade with the coast of Guinea. Both
he and his companion Pintado died, however, of fever, forty
only of his crew returning to Plymouth. Captain Richard
Chancellor is another able navigator of this reign. He sailed
with Sir Hugh Willoughby in the service of the company,
at the recommendation of Cabot. He made several
voyages to Russia; in the last, he parted with Sir Hugh
Willoughby, who, putting into a port to winter, was, with
all his crew, frozen to death. His ship was found riding
safe at anchor by some Russian fishermen, and from
a journal discovered on board it was found that the
admiral and most of his fellow-adventurers were alive
in January, 1554.

During Henry the Eighth's reign the infamous slave-
trade was commenced by Mr. William Hawkins of Plymouth,
father of the celebrated Sir John Hawkins. He, however,
evidently did not consider the traffic in the light in which
it is now regarded. In his ship, the Paul, of Plymouth,
he made three voyages to the Brazils, touching at the
coast of Guinea, where he traded in slaves, gold, and ele-
phants' teeth. At that time the English, considering
themselves lords paramount at sea, insisted that ships of
all other nations should strike their flags in presence of
their fleets. Even when William Lord Howard, Mary's
high admiral, went with a fleet of twenty-eight men-of-war
to await the arrival of King Philip, who soon after appeared
in the channel, escorted by one hundred and sixty sail, the
Spanish flag flying at his main-top, the English admiral
compelled him to lower it, by firing a shot before he would
salute the intended consort of the Queen. This determina-
tion of the English to maintain the sovereignty of the seas
was the cause hereafter of many a desperate naval engage-

THE FRENCH DEFEATED OFF JERSEY. 81

mont between themselves and the Dutch, who disputed
their right to the honour.

Henry died A.D. 1547. No great improvements were
made in navigation during his reign, but the encourage-
ment he gave to shipbuilding, and the establishment of a
permanent Royal Navy, contributed much to enable Eng-
land to attain that supremacy on the ocean which she has
ever since maintained.

During the early part of Edward the Sixth's reign the
navy of England was employed chiefly in operations against
the Scotch, but in 1550 the French formed a plan to cap-
ture Jersey and Guernsey, which they surrounded with a
large fleet, having 2000 troops on board. The inhabitants
held out stoutly, and gained time for Captain (afterwards
Sir William) Winter to arrive to their succour. Though
he had but a small squadron, so hastily did he attack the
French, that he captured and burnt nearly all their ships
and killed a thousand men, the rest with difficulty escaping
to the mainland.

Mary's reign is a blank, as far as most achievements were
concerned, and, had the miserable queen obtained her
wishes, the ships of England, and all the English hold
dear, would have been handed over to the tender mercies
of Philip and the Spaniards.

CHAPTER VI.

(FROM A.D. 1558 TO A.D. 1567.)

HEN Elizabeth came to the throne, she, with-
out loss of time, took measures to restore the
navy, which had been allowed to fall into
decay during the reign of her wretched sister
Mary. Timber was stored up for building,
numerous pieces of brass cannon cast, and gunpowder,
which had hitherto been brought from abroad, was manu-
factured at home. She raised the wages of seamen,
increased the number of naval officers, and augmented
their salaries, giving also encouragement to foreigners
skilled in shipbuilding to repair to her ports and construct
strong ships, both for war and commerce. The fortresses
in the Isle of Wight and other parts were increased, and
scarcely had she governed four days when Vice- Admiral
Malyn was ordered to sail, with as many ships as were fit
for sea, to protect trade and to defend the channel.

She, of course, took these steps by the advice of. Cecil,
who likewise directed Sir Thomas Gresham to send over
coin from Holland, and to purchase arms and munitions of
war. Cecil was thoroughly cognisant of the designs of the
Spaniards, and he had soon a proof of their perfidious
intentions. A squadron under the command of Sir John
Hawkins had been driven into the port of St. Juan
d'Ulloa in the Bay of Mexico, and was suddenly attacked
by a Spanish fleet, the commander of which had just
before been professing his friendly intentions. Sir John
suspected treachery in consequence of observing that the
82

TREACHERY OF THE SPANIARDS. 83

Spaniards were shifting arms from one ship to another,
planting and levelling their cannon from their ships
towards an island on which some of the English had
landed. The master of one of the ships being sent to the
Spanish admiral, he was seized ; and, causing the trumpet
to be sounded, the Spaniards set on the English on all
sides. The men on shore being dismayed at the un-
expected onset, fled, and endeavoured to recover their
ships, but the Spaniards, landing in great numbers, slew
most of them without quarter. Several of the English
ships were destroyed — the Minion and Judith, with
a small bark of fifty tons, alone escaping. The crews
underwent incredible hardships, though they at length
found their way to England. The English captured on
the island by the Spaniards were afterwards thrown into
the Inquisition, where they remained shut up asunder in
dungeons for a year and a-half. Three were afterwards
burnt ; others were condemned to receive two and three
hundred blows on horseback with long whips, and to serve in
the galleys for many years ; and others were confined in
monasteries, dressed in the S. Benito or fool's coats. One
of them, Job Hartob, after enduring captivity for twenty-
three years, escaped, and reached England. So enraged
were the nation at this treachery of the Spaniards, that it
was with difficulty they could be restrained from breaking
the peace with that perfidious nation.

A further cause of dissension arose in consequence of a
convoy of vessels, bound from the coast of Biscay for the
Low Countries with a large quantity of money on board,
being chased by French pirates, having taken shelter .in
Plymouth, Falmouth, and Southampton. The queen, being
informed that the money was on the merchants' accounts,
and that the Duke of Alva would certainly seize it to
enable him to carry on the war, made bold to borrow the
sum. This brought matters to a crisis ; reprisals were
made by Spain, and the English seized many Spanish and
Flemish ships. The English on this, with incredible
alacrity, fitted out vessels, and fell upon all merchant-ships
belonging to the Spaniards. Spain, it was now known,
was preparing a formidable force for the invasion of Eng-

84 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

land ; but the queen and her ministers, unintimidated by
the boasts of the Spaniards, omitted no precautionary
measures to defeat Philip's plans. In 1587, a fleet under
Sir Francis Drake was despatched to Cadiz. The admiral
here forced six galleys, placed for the guardianship of the
port, to shelter themselves under the cannon of the castle ;
and then, having burnt upwards of a hundred ships laden
with ammunition and provisions, he sailed for Cape St.
Vincent, where he surprised some forts, and destroyed all
the fishing craft he could fall in with. From thence,
appearing off the mouth of the Tagus, he challenged the
Spanish admiral, Santa Cruz, to come out and fight ; but
the Spaniard, obeying his master's orders, allowed Drake to
burn and destroy every vessel he could find, rather than
hazard an engagement. The King of Spain, hoping to
frighten the English, published in every country in Europe
a full account of the armada he was preparing for the
subjugation, as he hoped, of England. For three years
had Philip been making the most mighty efforts to fit out
a fleet with which he hoped to humble the pride of the
queen of that " tight little island," who had dared to refuse
his hand, and to enslave her heretical subjects. The Most
Happy Armada, for so he had styled it, consisted of 134
sail of towering ships, of the total burden of 57,868 tons ;
on board of it were 19,295 soldiers, 8450 sailors, 2088
slaves, and 2830 pieces of cannon. In addition to the
foregoing, there were galleys, galliasses, and galleons stored
with 22,000 pounds of great shot, 40,000 quintals, or
hundredweights of powder, 1000 quintals of lead for
bullets, 10,000 quintals of match, 7000 muskets and
calivers, 1000 partisans and halberds, besides double-
cannon and field-pieces for a camp on disembarking, and a
great many mules, horses, and asses, with six months'
provisions of all sorts. To this may be added a large band
of monks, with racks, thumbscrews, chains, whips, butcher-
ing knives, and other implements of torture, with which
it was proposed to convert the English from the error
of their ways, and to bring them to the true faith as
expounded by the pope and his pupil Philip.

The larger of these ships measured from 1000 to 1200

THE SPANISH ARMADA. 85

tons, they carried 50 guns, about 180 mariners, and 300
soldiers. A still larger number measuring from 600 to
800 tons, and carrying from 30 to 40 guns, with crews of
about 100 seamen, and 300 soldiers. There was a fleet
of pataches and zabras, a considerable number of which
measured no more than 60 tons, and carried 8 guns and
30 seamen. The galliasses must, however, have been ships
of great bulk, as they carried 50 guns, and crews of about
120 men, with a still larger number of soldiers, besides
which they each had about 300 slaves for working their
oars. The galleys also carried 50 guns and about 230
slaves. This fleet was divided into ten squadrons, each
commanded by an experienced officer. The pataches are
more commonly called carvels. Besides the Dominicans,
Franciscans, Flagellants, and Jesuits, there were on board
many hundred persons of the best families of Spain ; some
maintained by the king, with their servants, and those
belonging to the duke's court.

This vast armada was followed by a fleet of tenders,
with a prodigious quantity of arms on board, intended to
put into the hands of those whom it was expected would
rise on their reaching the shores of our own land. The
command of this mighty squadron, generally known as
the Spanish Armada, was given to the Duke of Medina
Sidonia, and under him was Don Martinez de E-ecaldo, an
experienced admiral, who managed the affairs of the fleet.
The reports of the enormous preparations made by the
Spaniards for the destruction of everything they held dear
naturally caused the greatest anxiety, if not consternation,
among the English, but the nation was true to itself. The
queen and her ministers, in no way daunted at the mighty
preparations for their enslavement, vigorously prepared for
resistance, taking all the measures wisdom could dictate
and their means would allow for repelling the invaders.
The country flew to arms; every county raised a body
of militia; the sea-ports were fortified, and a system of
signals arranged so that troops could be brought to the
point where they were required with the greatest possible
speed. Orders were also given that, should the enemy
land, the whole country round should be laid waste, so

86 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

that the Spaniards might find no food except what they
brought with them. The regular army was disposed, a
part along the southern coast, another near Torbay, under
the command of the Earl of Leicester, while a third, under
the leading of Lord Hunsdon, was destined to guard the
queen's person. The English Government, not misled by
the assurances of the Spanish minister that his master's
wish was to remain at peace, took care to keep themselves
well informed of the proceedings of the Spaniards, and of
the time the Armada was likely to be ready to put to sea.

Offers had been made by Philip to conclude a treaty,
and a meeting was held between his envoys and the English
commissioners in April near Ostend. The Spaniards, how-
ever, purposely squandered away the time, hoping to stop
the preparations of the English while their own were
going forward, and at length fixed on Brouckburg in
Flanders as the place for concluding a treaty of peace.
Before the time agreed on had arrived, the Spanish
Armada had sailed from the Tagus. The pope having
blessed the fleet which was to be engaged in the pious
office of subjugating the heretics of England, it was named
the Great, Noble, and Invincible Armada, the terror of
Europe.

The English fleet was placed under the command of
Lord Howard of Effingham, who had, however, only seven-
teen ships of war actually belonging to the queen. The
largest of these, the Triumph, was of 1100 tons, carried
500 men, and was commanded by Sir Martin Frobisher.
The next in size was the White Bear, also with a crew
of 500 men, commanded by Lord Edmund Sheffield. The
third in size was the Ark, the admiral's flag-ship, of
800 tons, commanded by Raleigh. Of the same size was
the Victory, carrying the flag of Sir John Hawkins, the
rear-admiral,, with a crew of 400 men. There were two
others of 600 tons, the Elizabeth Bonaventure and the
Hope. There were six of 500 tons, two of 400 tons,
another of 360 tons, while the rest ranged from 30 to 120
tons. To these were joined twelve hired ships and six
tenders. The city of London provided sixteen ships, twice
the number demanded, with four store-ships ; the city of

THE ENGLISH FLEET. 87

Bristol, three ; Barnstaple, three ; Exeter, two, and a ten-
der and stout pinance ; Plymouth, seven stout ships, equal
to the men-of-war. Sixteen ship were under Lord Henry
Seymour. The nobility and gentry and commons of Eng-
land furnished forty-three ships ; the merchant adven-
turers, ten ; to which may be added a fly-boat and Sir W.
Winter's pinnace, making in all 143 ships.

Of these ships, thirty-two were under the command of
Sir Francis Drake, and several of them were of 400 tons
burden ; but the greater number were not of more than
200 tons. The largest London ship was only of 300 tons,
but the greater number were above 100 tons, and the
smallest of 60 tons. Lord Henry Seymour's ships were
mostly under 150 tons, the largest being only 160. Alto-
gether the number of their crews did not amount to more
than 15,000 men, but they were one and all gallant tars,
resolved to fight and conquer, and fearless of danger. Sir
Francis Drake, with fifty sail, had been stationed at Ply-
mouth, and here the Lord High Admiral, with a large
part of his fleet, joined him on the 23rd May, when Sir
Francis was made his vice-admiral. Hence, with about
ninety ships, the fleet sailed up and down between Ushant
and Scilly, waiting for the arrival of the Armada, which
had sailed, as has been said, on the 1st June. A tremen-
dous storm, which compelled the English to run into harbour,
had, however, dispersed the Spaniards, and driven them
back with some damage into port. Shortly afterwards a
report reached England, circulated probably by the Span-
iards themselves, that the whole of their fleet had been
weather-beaten, and that they would be unable to proceed
to sea till the next year. This was actually believed by
the English Government, who ordered the Lord High
Admiral to send back four of his largest ships into port ;
but Lord Howard, alleging how dangerous it was to be
too credulous, retained the ships, observing that he would
rather keep them at his own charge than expose the nation
to so great a hazard.

The wind coming from the north, on the 8th of June Lord
Howard sailed towards Spain, looking out for the Armada ;
but the wind changing to the south, and he seeing that it

88 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

would be favourable to the Spaniards, returned towards
England, lest they might slip by and reach the coast
before him. On the 12th he arrived at Plymouth, where
the whole fleet was assembled, waiting for the enemy, and
on the 19th of June —

" 'Twas about the lovely close of a warm summer's day,
There came a gallant merchant-ship, full sail to Plymouth Bay.
Her crew hath seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Aurigny's isle,
At earliest twilight, on the wave, lie heaving many a mile;
At sunrise she escaped their van, by God's especial grace,
And the tall Pinto,, till at noon, had held her close in chase."

This tall ship was commanded by Captain Thomas
Fleming, who had been stationed on the look-out to the
eastward. The wind blowing almost directly into the
sound, it was scarcely possible for the English fleet to put to
sea ; at length, however, by dint of warping, the admiral's
ship and six more got out of the haven, and by daylight,
on the 20th, sixty others joined him ; with these he sailed,
and when off the Eddystone caught sight of the enemy to
the westward. Notice of the appearance of the Armada
was spread far and wide throughout the land.

" Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea ;
Such night in England ne'er had been, nor ne'er again shall be.
From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford Bay,
That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day ;
For swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war-flames spread,
High on St. Michael's Mount it shone, it shone on Beachy Head.
Far on the deep the Spaniards saw, along each southern shore,
Cape beyond cape in endless range, those twinkling spots of fire."

Onward came the Armada in perfect order, forming a
crescent, the horns of which were seven miles apart, the
concave part to the rear. Formidable, indeed, from their
size and number, did they appear, like so many floating
castles, such as had never in the world's history sailed over
the surface of the deep. The English captains were eager
for the attack, but Lord Howard wisely checked their
ardour, pointing out the enormous size of the enemy's
ships, which aLso being full of troops, they could hope to do
nothing with by boarding. Had, indeed, the Spaniards
ventured to attack the English on that day, it would have

THE ARMADA ATTACKED. 89

been difficult to escape from them. Having wisely waited
till the following morning, Sunday, the 21st of June, the
admiral was joined by the rest of the fleet, which had got
out of the sound, and had, moreover, the wind in its favour.
The battle commenced at nine o'clock in the morning,
when Lord Howard attacked a Spanish ship commanded
by Don Alfonso de Lara. Lord Howard pressed in upon
her, tore her hull with his broadside, and brought her
to the verge of sinking. Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher
attacked, also, the rearmost of the Spanish ships, commanded
by Recaldo, the vice-admiral, ship engaging ship, till the
Spaniards were so disabled that they took to flight, arid
were received into the main body. The British seamen,
elated by their success, pressed on more and more boldly,
till, darkness coming on, the Lord High Admiral, by signal,
ordered them to desist. About midnight the English saw
a large ship in the centre of the Spanish fleet blow up.
As it proved afterwards, she had on board a large amount
of treasure, which was moved before she was deserted to
another ship, commanded by Don Pedro Vargas. It
coming on to blow hard at night, this ship sprang her
foremast, and falling astern, was attacked and captured by
Sir Francis Drake. Besides the treasure, several persons
of distinction were found oil board, the first Spanish
prisoners made on this occasion. The ship was sent into
Dartmouth, where the plunder of the vessel was divided
among the sailors.

A ship which had been destroyed was fallen in with the
next day, having fifty men on board cruelly burnt, and vast
numbers dead. In the evening Sir Francis Drake was
induced to sail in pursuit of several ships he saw in the
south-west, but which proved to be German merchant-
vessels ; and it was evening of the next day before he
could rejoin the fleet. Next morning, the two fleets having
manoeuvred for some time to gain the weather-gage, about
noon the Spaniards at length bore down on a number of
the London vessels ; but the Lord High Admiral sending
a reinforcement, rescued his ships, and nearly took the
vice-admiral. So high were the sides of the Spanish
ships that their shot generally flew over the heads of the

96 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

English, and did little damage ; while scarcely a shot from
the ships of the latter missed its aim. After the fleets had
engaged for some time, the wind shifted to the south-south-
west. On this Lord Howard led his fleet to the attack of
the Armada. One of his ships, the Triumph, pushing too
far, was surrounded by the Spaniards; but the admiral,
with six other vessels, bore down to her assistance, having
given orders to his captains not to fire a gun till within
musket-shot. The Triumph was rescued, and the Spa-
niards driven back, miserably shattered.

About this period one William Cox, captain of a little
pinnace called the Violet, belonging to Sir William
Winter, behaved valiantly against the enemy, but his
gallant little craft was sunk, and he was killed by a great
piece of ordnance. As an old author writes on this occa-
sion : " Also the May Flower of London, a name known
to fame, performed an honourable part. Never, indeed,
was seen so vehement a fight ; either side endeavouring to
bring about the destruction of the other. For albeit the
musqueteers and arquebusiers were in either fleet many
in number, yet could they not be discerned or heard by
reason of the roar of the greater ordnance that followed so
thick one upon another, and played so well that day on
either side that they were thought to be equal in number
to common arquebusiers in a hot skirmish. The battle
was not only long, but also near at hand — within half-
a-musket shot — and that to the great advantage of the
Englishmen, who, with their ships being, as was aforesaid,
excellent of sail and of steerage, yet less a great deal than
the Spanish ships, and therefore more light and nimble,
fought riot according to their manner otherwise, to board
them, but keeping themselves aloof at a reasonable dis-
tance, continually beat upon the hull and tackling of the
enemy's ships, which, being a good deal higher, could not
so easily beat the English ships with their ordnance. Thus
in the space of one day, with the loss only of one small
ship and less than a hundred men on the part of the Eng-
lish, was the so-called Invincible Armada utterly beaten
and nearly destroyed — though to the God of battles must
truly be ascribed the victory, for the power of the elements.

ffifi ARMADA OFF CALAIS. 91

more than man's strength, caused the destruction of the
larger number of the Spanish ships."

At evening the engagement ceased, by which time
several of the enemy's ships had been taken, among them
a Venetian ship of large size and force. The next day,
for want of ammunition, the English were unable to renew
the attack ; but the Spaniards, not knowing this, did not
attempt to molest them. It had been intended, on the
night of the 24th, by Lord Howard, to attack the Armada
in the dead of the night, but the wind failing he was
disappointed in his object. On the 25th, a vast galleon,
dropping behind, was captured by Sir John Hawkins after
a desperate resistance. Several galliasses, sent by the
Spanish admiral to the rescue of the galleon, were nearly
taken. The persevering English, in their small vessels,
continued their assaults on the vast ships of the enemy,
never failing to inflict considerable damage on them. In
the meantime, more powder and shot were brought on
board to enable them to carry on their assaults. On the
following day the admiral determined, however, to allow
the Armada to proceed towards the Straits of Calais,
where another fleet, under Lord Henry Seymour and
Captain Winter, lay in wait for them. Thus the Armada
sailed forward till the English saw them anchor before
Calais, on the 27th of July. Here, being joined by the
before-mentioned squadron, the Lord High Admiral found
himself in command of nearly 150 stout ships, and, bearing
down on the enemy, anchored at a short distance from
them. The Spanish admiral had anchored in the hopes
of being joined by the Duke of Parma, but the fleets of
Holland and Zealand blockaded him in the ports of
Dunkirk and Niewport, and he dared not sail out. Seeing
that the Spanish ships lay very close together, Lord
Howard planned a new method for their destruction. Eight
of the least valuable vessels being fitted out as fire-ships,
and having their guns loaded, were conducted towards the
Spaniards by Captains Young and Prowse, who, in the
most undaunted manner, firing the trains as they got close
to the Spaniards, retired. As the burning ships bore
down upon them, the Spaniards, struck with dismay, cut

92 POPULAR HISTORY OJ? THE BRITISH NAVY.

their cables, and put to sea. The largest galliasse in the
fleet ran on shore, and was captured by the boats of the
squadron, after all her fighting men had been killed — the
slaves at the oars alone escaping. Several thus ran on the
shoals on the coast of Flanders.

The greater number were attacked fiercely by the
English, who disabled many of their ships. The Earl of
Cumberland sent a large galleon to the bottom, another
was sunk by the Lord High Admiral, and two other
vessels by Drake and Hawkins. Another large galleon,
the Saint Matthew, was captured by the Dutch, as was the
Saint Philip, after in vain endeavouring to escape, having
been driven by the English towards Ostend.

One of the most gallant of the English commanders
was Captain Robert Cross, who, in a small vessel, sunk
three of the enemy; while the Spaniards fled whenever
they were attacked — indeed, the whole engagement this
day was more a pursuit than a battle. On the 31st of
July, the Spaniards, who had attempted to regain Calais
Roads, were driven towards the coast of Zealand, when, the
wind favouring them just as they were almost on the
shoals, their admiral came to the resolution of returning
home round the northern end of the British Isles, and
making all sail, they steered the course proposed, throwing
overboard their horses and mules, and everything that
could impede their progress. Lord Howard, leaving Lord
Henry Seymour with a squadron to assist the Dutch in
blockading the Duke of Parma, sent Admiral Winter with
another into the narrow seas to guard the coast, while he
himself pursued the Spaniards. Many more were lost in
their hurried flight ; some were wrecked on the coast of
Scotland, and others on the Shetland and Orkney Islands.
Those who landed in Scotland were brought to Edinburgh,
to the number of 500, where they were mercifully treated ;
but nearly thirty ships were cast away on the Irish coast,
where nearly all their crews, to the number of several
thousands, who escaped drowning, were put to death by
the inhabitants. About fifty-four ships alone of this
mighty Armada returned to Spain, and of those who had
embarked upwards of 20,000 men had perished. Not a

DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA. 93

family in Spain but had lost a relative, though King
Philip, in a vain endeavour to conceal his rage and dis-
appointment, forbade any persons to wear mourning.

The encouragement given to maritime adventure raised
up a host of gallant seamen and explorers, whose names
became renowned for their exploits, and who carried the
flag of England into all quarters of the globe. Perhaps
of these the most celebrated was Sir Francis Drake, who,
having performed numerous daring exploits in the West
Indies, sailed round the world, and returned to England,
his ship laden with the booty he had taken from the
Spaniards ; good Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who, after making
many discoveries, sank with all his crew off the coast of
Newfoundland ; Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville,
Sir John Hawkins, and a host of others.

Among other expeditions was one intended for the
South Seas, under the command of the Earl of Cumberland,
who, at his own charge, fitted out three ships and a pinnace
— namely, the Red Dragon, of 160 tons and 130 men ; the
Clifford, of 30 tons and 70 men ; and the Rose and the
Dorothy. Having touched on the African coast, they crossed
over to South America, where they took two Portuguese
ships, one of which had forty-five negroes on board, while
the only riches in the other, besides slaves and friars, were
beads and other spiritual trinkets, and the furniture
designed for a new monastery. Several other prizes were
made, when, without attempting to reach the Pacific, they
returned to England. While numerous English vessels
were cruising on the coasts of Old Spain, and destroying
its trade and navigation, Thomas Cavendish was despatched
with a small squadron to do the like on the coast of New
Spain. He carried out his instructions, crossing the South
Seas to the Philippines, and afterwards visiting China,
having taken on his way many of the ships of the enemy.

To Sir John Hawkins the navy is indebted for the
institution of that noble fund the Chest at Chatham, to
which, also, Sir Francis Drake contributed considerably.
Elizabeth, determined to retaliate on the Spaniards, fitted
out a fleet in the following spring of 146 sail, which
destroyed Corunna and Vigo, as well as the Castle of

94 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Cascacs at the mouth of the Tagus, and captured sixty
large ships. In 1590 the queen allotted £8790 a-year for
the repairs of the Koyal Navy ; a sum which would go but
a short way at the present day in building a single ship.

About this time the telescope was invented by Janssen,
a spectacle-maker of Middleburgh, in Zealand. Hearing
of it, Galileo immediately constructed his first very im-
perfect instrument, which magnified only three times.
Further experiments enabled him to construct another
with a power of eight, and ultimately, sparing neither
labour nor expense, he formed one which bore a magnify-
ing power of more than thirty times. With this instru-
ment, he commenced that survey of the heavenly bodies
which rendered his name famous as the first of astronomers.
In the reign of Charles the Second, in 1671, Sir Isaac
Newton constructed his first reflecting telescope, a small
ill-made instrument, nine inches only in length — valuable
as it was, a pigmy in power compared to Lord Rosse's
six-feet reflector of sixty feet in length. Torricelli, the
pupil of Galileo, invented the barometer.

In 1591 the first voyage to the East Indies was under-
taken by Captain Lancaster, in three ships. One was sent
back with invalids, another was lost with all on board, and
the crew of the captain's ship mutinied while he was on
shore on an uninhabited island, and ran off with her, leav-
ing him and his companions for three years, till they were
rescued.

Among the brave admirals of this period, one of the
most gallant was Sir Richard Grenville, who, after serving
his country for many years, sailed in the Revenge as vice-
admiral to Lord Admiral Howard, in 1591, in search of
the Spanish West India merchant-fleet, with a squadron of
six men-of-war, six victuallers, and a few pinnaces. The
English squadron was at anchor near the island of Flores,
when the admiral received intelligence of the approaching
Spanish fleet. He was in no condition to oppose the
Spaniards, for, besides being greatly inferior in numbers,
nearly half the men were disabled by the scurvy, a large
proportion of whom were on shore. The admiral imme-
diately weighed and put to sea, and the rest of his squadron

RTR RICHARD GRBNVILLE. 95

followed his example. Sir Richard Grenville, however,
remaining to receive the sick men, was the last to weigh.
The admiral and the rest of the fleet with difficulty
recovered the wind, but Sir Richard, not being able to do
this, was advised by his master to set his mainsail and
coast about, trusting to the sailing of his ship. As the
Spanish squadron was already on his weather-gage, Sir
Richard utterly refused to fly from the enemy, declaring
that he would rather die than dishonour Her Majesty's ship,
persuading his company that he would pass through the
two squadrons in spite of them. Standing for the Spaniards,
he compelled several of them to spring their luff, who thus
fell under the lee of the Revenge. Meanwhile, as he was
engaging those nearest to him,'an enormous Spanish ship,
the great San Philip, of 1500 tons, being to windward, and
bearing down upon him, becalmed his sails, so that his
ship could neither make way nor feel the helm. This
enormous ship now laid the Revenge aboard ; while she
was thus becalmed, the ships under her lee luffing up, also
laid her aboard, one of them the Spanish admiral's ship,
.mighty and puissant, two on her larboard, and two on her
starboard side. The fight, which began at three o'clock in
the afternoon, continued very terrible all that evening.
The great San Philip, however, having received the broad-
side of the Revenge, discharged with cross-bar shot, shifted
herself with all diligence from her sides, utterly misliking
her first entertainment. The Spanish ships were filled
with companies of soldiers, in some 200, in others 800,
while the Revenge had no soldiers, besides the mariners,
but the officers' servants and a few volunteers. After a
long interchange of broadsides, and small shot, the Spaniards
attempted to board the Revenge, hoping by the multitudes
of their armed soldiers and musqueteers to force her, but
were repulsed again and again, and driven back into their
own ships or into the sea. In the beginning of the fight a
victualler, the George Noble, of London, after receiving
some shot, fell under the lee of the Revenge, arid asked Sir
Richard what he commanded him to do. Sir Richard
bade him save himself, and leave him to his fortune.
After the fight had continued without intermission while

96 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the day lasted and some hours of the night, many of the
English were slain and wounded, the great galleon had
been sunk, while terrific slaughter had been made on board
the other Spanish ships. About midnight Sir Richard
was struck by a musket-ball ; while the surgeon was dress-
ing his wound, he was again shot in the head, the surgeon
being killed at the same moment.

The first ships which had attacked the Revenge having
been beaten off, others took their places, so that she had
never less than two mighty galleons by her sides, and
before morning she had fifteen other ships assailing her;
and so ill did they approve of their entertainment that by
break of day they were far more willing to hearken to a
composition than again to attack her. But as the day
increased, so did the gallant crew decrease ; no friends
appeared in sight, only enemies, saving only one small
ship called the Pilgrim, commanded by Jacob Widdon.
He deserves to be handed down to fame, for he hovered
near all night in the hopes of helping the admiral, but in
the morning, bearing away, was hunted like a hare among
many ravenous hounds ; but, happily, he escaped.

By this time all the powder of the Revenge except the
last barrel was spent, her pikes broken, forty of her best
men slain, and the most part of the rest hurt. At the
commencement she had had but a hundred free from sick-
ness, and ninety lay in the hold upon the ballast. By this
hundred was sustained all the volleys and boardings of
fifteen ships of war. Sir Richard finding himself helpless,
and convinced that his ship must fall a prey to the enemy
who now circled round him, proposed to the master-gunner,
whom he knew to be a most resolute man, to expend their
last barrel of powder by blowing up the ship and sinking
her, that thereby the Spaniards might lose the glory of a
victory. The master-gunner readily consented, and so did
divers others, but the captain and master were of another
opinion, alleging that the Spaniards would be ready for a
compromise, and that there were many valiant men yet
living who might do their country acceptable service here-
after— besides which, as the ship had already six feet of
water in the hold, and three shot-holes under water, which

HEROIC DEATH OF SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE. 97

were so weakly stopped that by the first working of the
ship she must needs sink, she would never get into port.
Sir Richard refusing to hearken to these reasons, the
captain went on board the ship of the Spanish admiral,
Don Alfonso Ba^an, who promised that the lives of all
should be preserved, that the ship's company should be
sent to England, the officers to pay a reasonable ransom,
and in the meantime to be free from the galleys or imprison-
ment.

From the report which the admiral received, no one
showed any inclination to return on board the Revenge,
lest Sir Richard should blow himself and them up together.
On this news being returned, the greater part of the crew,
the master-gunner excepted, drew back from Sir Richard,
it being no hard matter to dissuade men from death to
life. The master-gunner finding himself and Sir Richard
thus prevented and mastered by the greater number,
would have slain himself with the sword, had he not by
force been withheld, and locked into his cabin. The
Spanish admiral then sent many boats on board the
Revenge, the English crew, fearing Sir Richard would still
carry out his intention, stealing away on board the Spanish
ships. Sir Richard, thus overmatched, was sent unto by
Don Alfonso Bacan to remove out of the Revenge, the ship
being marvellous unsavoury, filled with bodies of dead
and wounded men, like a slaughter-house. Sir Richard
answered that he might do with his body as he list, for he
esteemed it not. As he was carried out of the ship he
swooned ; on reviving again, he desired the ship's company
to pray for him.

Don Alfonso used Sir Richard with all humanity, and
left nothing unattempted that tended to his recovery,
highly commending his valour and worthiness, and greatly
bewailing the danger wherein he was, while he admired
the resolution which had enabled the English admiral to
endure the fire of so many huge ships, and to resist the
assaults of so many soldiers. During the fight two Spanish
captains and no less than a thousand men were either
killed or drowned, while two large ships were sunk by her
side, another sunk in the harbour, and a fourth ran herself

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

on shore, to save her crew. Greatly to the regret of the
Spanish admiral, the gallant Sir Richard died three days
after the action ; but whether he was buried at sea or on
shore is unknown. His last memorable words were : " Here
die I, Richard Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind, for
that I have ended my life as a true soldier ought to do,
fighting for his country, queen, religion, and honour, my
soul willingly departing from this body, leaving behind a
lasting fame of having behaved as every valiant soldier is
in duty bound to do "

DEATH OP GRENVILLE.

A storm coming on soon afterwards, the Revenge, as had
been expected, went to the bottom, while fifteen Spanish
men-of-war were cast away, as were many of the merchant-
men ; so that of the whole fleet, which originally amounted
to upwards of a hundred, seventy were lost. While the
English sailors were scattered among the Spanish fleet,
they received a visit from a traitor one of the Earl of

CAPTURE OF AN ENORMOUS OARRACK. 99

Desmond's family, who endeavoured to persuade them to
serve the King of Spain, but in most cases without success.
In 1592 an expedition was fitted out by Sir Walter
Raleigh, consisting of several queen's ships and some of
his own, with which he intended to attack Carthagena and
other places in the West Indies ; but as he was about to
sail, he was superseded in the command by Sir Martin
Frobisher, the queen wishing to retain him in England.
Sir Martin was directed to proceed only to the coast of
Spain, where he captured a large Portuguese carrack, which,
to escape the English, ran on shore, and was burned by
her people after the goods had been landed ; but the Eng-
lish following made themselves masters of a large part of
the booty and of the town of Santa Cruz. After waiting
patiently for some weeks, another still larger carrack, called
the Madre de Dios hove in sight. Though the Portuguese
fought bravely to defend her, she was captured in the space
of an hour and a-half. On going on board, the English,
after hunting about for plunder, each man with a lighted
candle in his hand, a cabin was entered in which there
was a quantity of powder. The carrack was set on fire,
and had it not been for the courage of Captain Norton,
both the plundered and the plunderers would have been
blown together into the air. The carrack, which was
brought home in safety, was larger than any man-of-war
or merchantman belonging to England. She was of 1600
tons burden, and measuring from the beak-head to the
stern, on which was erected a large lantern, she was 165
feet in length. Her greatest beam was 46 feet 10 inches.
On leaving Cochin China she had drawn 31 feet of water,
but on her arrival at Dartmouth she drew only 26. She
had seven decks — one main or sleeping, three close decks,
one forecastle, and a spar deck of two floors. The length
of her keel was 100 feet, and of the mainmast 121 feet;
the main-yard was 106 feet long. She carried between
600 and 700 persons, and considering the length of the
voyage, the large amount of provisions can be calculated.
She carried fully 900 tons of cargo, consisting of jewels,
spices, drugs, silks, calicoes, quilts, carpets, and colours, as
also elephants' teeth, porcelain vessels and china, cocoa-

100 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVT.

nuts, hides, ebony, bedsteads of the same, cloths made from
the rinds of trees, probably of the paper-mulberry tree ;
the whole valued at not less than £150,000 sterling. This
shows that a merchant- vessel of those days was not much
less in size than an East Indiaman of late years.

On the death of Elizabeth, the navy consisted of forty-
two ships — two only, however, of a thousand tons each,
though there were several of 800 and 900 tons ; but the
greater number were much under that size, being of about
400 tons and less. The larger ships carried 340 mariners,
40 gunners, and 120 soldiers.

A sketch of the history of privateering, which, during the
reign of Elizabeth, grew into vast proportions, must not be
omitted. The fearful atrocities committed by the Spaniards
on the inhabitants of the Low Countries naturally created
the utmost horror in the breasts of the Protestants of
England against them. Large numbers of the Dutch and
Flemish escaping to England from their persecutors, and
spreading everywhere the account of the barbarities their
countrymen had endured, further increased this feeling,
till it extended over the length and breadth of the land,
but especially among the people of the sea-ports, where
many of the fugitives took up their abodes. When, there-
fore, an English shipowner, Clark by name, proposed fitting
out a squadron of three ships to cruise against the mer-
chant-vessels of that nation, who, in their bigoted zeal,
had vowed to stamp out the Protestant faith, not only in
the countries subject to their rule, but in England herself,
there was no lack of volunteers. Those who were not
influenced by religious feelings, were so by the hope of
filling their pockets with Spanish gold. When Clark's
squadron, after a cruise of six weeks, returned into New-
haven with eighteen prizes, their cargoes valued at £50,000,
applications from all quarters were made to the queen
for letters of marque which would enable ships legally
to carry on war against the enemy.

At the period of Elizabeth's accession, owing to the
treachery as much as to the supineness of her predecessor,
of the Royal Navy which had been created by Henry the
Eighth, only twenty-three vessels of war, few of them

PRIVATEERS. 101

of more than 600 tons burden, remained. There was
one only of 800, one of 700, a few being above 200,
while the remainder were sloops or other small craft.
The Government had therefore to depend chiefly on private
ships in the war with France, and the expected struggle
of far greater magnitude with Spain. Numerous English
subjects had also suffered from the Spanish Inquisition,
and Englishmen of rank and wealth considered that they
were justified in retaliating on the authors of the cruelties
practised on their own countrymen. From every port and
river vessels fitted out as traders went forth heavily armed
to plunder on the high seas any of the ships of the common
enemy of mankind with which they could fall in. At first
the bold privateersmen confined themselves to the nar-
row seas, pouncing down upon any Spanish ship which
approached their shores, either driven in thither by the
wind, or compelled to seek shelter by stress of weather.
Many a trader from Antwerp to Cadiz mysteriously dis-
appeared, or, arriving without her cargo, reported that she
had been set upon by a powerful craft, when, boats coming
out from the English shore, she had been quickly unladen,
her crew glad to escape with their lives. The Scilly
Islands especially afforded shelter to a squadron of vessels
under Sir Thomas Seymour, who, sailing forth into the
chops of the channel, laid wait for any richly-laden craft
he might happen to espy. Among other men of rank
who thus distinguished themselves were the sons of Lord
Chobham. Influenced by that hatred of Roman abomina-
tions which had long been the characteristic of their family,
Thomas Chobham, the most daring of the brothers, had
established himself in a strongly-fortified port in the south
of Ireland, from whence, sailing forth with his stout ships,
he attacked the Spaniards on their own coasts. Coming
in sight of a large ship in the channel, laden with a cargo
valued at 80,000 ducats, and having on board forty prisoners
doomed to serve in the galleys, he chased her into the Bay
of Biscay, where, at length coming up with her, he compelled
her to strike, when he released the prisoners, and trans-
ferred the cargo to his own ship. The Spaniards declare
that he sewed up all the survivors of the crew in their own

102 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ]*A.VY.

sails and hove them overboard ; but as the story rests on
no better authority than that of the Spaniards themselves,
we may be excused from giving it credence. The stories
of the cruelties practised by the Spaniards on their pri-
soners are too well authenticated to be doubted. The
men who could be guilty of one-tenth part of the horrors
they compelled their fellow-subjects in the Netherlands
to endure, or those inflicted on the hapless Indians of
America, were capable of any conceivable cruelty.

Petitions upon petitions poured in on the queen from
those whose fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons had been
put to death, or were still groaning in the Spanish Inquisi-
tion, or in other prisons, both in the old and new worlds.
Dorothy Seely, whose husband was among them, entreats
that she and the friends of such of Her Majesty's subjects
" as be there imprisoned, inflicted, and tormented beyond
all reason, may be allowed to fit out certain ships for the sea
at their own proper charges, and to capture such inquisitors
or other papistical subjects of the King of Spain as they
can take by sea or land, and to retain them in prison in
England with such torment and diet as Her Majesty's
subjects had suffered in Spain."

To strengthen this petition, it is stated " that not long
since the Spanish Inquisition executed sixty persons of
St. Malo, in France, whereupon the Frenchmen, having
armed and manned their pinnaces, lay in wait for the
Spaniards, and took a hundred and beheaded them, send-
ing the Spanish ships to the shore with the heads, leaving
in each ship only one man to relate the cause of tte
revenge — since which time the Spanish Inquisition has
never meddled with those of St. Malo."

Froude tells us that one of the French rovers, com-
manded by Jacques Leclerc, called by the Spaniards Pid
de Palo — " timber leg" — sailed from Havre, and captured
a Portuguese vessel worth 40,000 ducats, as well as a
Biscayan ship laden with iron and wool, and afterwards
chased another papist ship into Falmouth, where he fired
into her and drove her on shore. The captain of the
Spaniard appealed for protection to the governor of Pen-
dennis, but the governor replied that the privateer was

EXPLOITS OB* THE PRIVATEERS. 103

properly commissioned, and that without special orders
from the queen he could not interfere. Pie de Palo then
took possession of her as a prize, and afterwards anchored
under shelter of Pendennis, waiting for further good for-
tune. As it was the depth of winter, and the weather
being unsettled, five Portuguese ships, a few days later,
were driven in for shelter. Ascertaining the insecurity of
their position, they attempted to escape to sea again, but
Pie' de Palo dashed after them and seized two of the five,
which he brought back as prizes. Philip complained to
the English Government of the robberies committed on
his subjects, and attempts were made to put a stop to
these proceedings. A few of the rovers were captured,
but were very quickly set at liberty again, and the priva-
teers swarmed everywhere in still increasing numbers.
In truth, Cecil, who knew perfectly well what were the
ultimate aims of Philip, had no wish to damp the ardour
and enterprise of his countrymen.

Not content with the booty they obtained in the narrow
seas, the privateers, often in large fleets, boldly traversed
the ocean in search of Spanish argosies in the West Indies
and on the Spanish main. Drake, Hawkins, and Cavendish
were among the foremost in these enterprises. What-
ever may be thought of their proceedings at the present
day, their example tended to foster that courage, perseve-
rance, and indifference to danger characteristic of British
seamen.

The King of Spain having granted letters of reprisals to
his subjects, especially to cruise in the Levant and the Medi-
terranean, the Turkey merchants fitted out five stout ships
with letters of marque, to provide for their defence — the
Royal Merchant, the Toby, the Edward Bonadventure,
the William, and the John. While up the Levant they
were informed that the Spaniards had fitted out two fleets,
one of twenty and another of thirty galleys, to intercept
them. On this, Mr. Williamson, captain of the Royal
Merchant, was chosen admiral, and the commander of the
Toby, vice-admiral. As they were sailing between Sicily
and the African coast, they descried seven galleys and two
frigates under Sicilian and Maltese colours, in the service

104 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

of Spain, the admiral of which ordered the pursers of
the English ships to repair on board his galley. One
alone, Mr. Rowet, accompanied the messenger. He was
received in a haughty manner by the Spanish admiral, who
insisted on the surrender of the English ships. On Mr.
Rowet's return, the Spaniard signified his resolution by
firing at the English, which was immediately returned,
when the engagement began. The five English merchant-
vessels, though heavily laden, ^maintained 'an obstinate
fight for five hours, and so shattered were the Spanish
ships-of-war, that the admiral first, and then two others,
were obliged to haul off, scarcely able to keep above water.
The remainder not having men enough to man their guns,
soon after followed his example. The English lost but two
men in this engagement, but their cargoes were too valu-
able to run any risk by pursuing the enemy ; they there-
fore made the best of their way to England, where they
arrived in safety, having, by favour of a thick fog and a
brisk easterly wind, escaped the other Spanish squadron,
which had waited for them off the Straits of Gibraltar.

The instructions in the articles of war drawn up by
the Lord High Admiral, to be observed by the captains and
crews of the ships of the Royal Navy, prove that it was
expected that the seamen of those days should be pious
and well-conducted men. They were to be openly read at
service time, twice every week.

" Imprimis, That you take special care to serve God by
using common prayers twice every day, except urgent cause
enforce the contrary ; and that no man, soldier, or other
mariner do dispute of matters of religion, unless it be to
be resolved of some doubts, and in such case that he confer
with the ministers."

" Second, Item, you shall forbid swearing, brawling, and
dicing, and such-like disorders as may breed contention
and disorders in your ships."

" Five, All persons, whatsoever, within your ship shall
come to the ordinary services of the ship without contra-
diction,"

" Sixth, You shall give special charge for avoiding the
danger of fire, and that no candle be carried in your ship

ARTICLES OF WAft. 105

without a lantern, which, if any person shall disobey, you
shall severely punish. And if any chance of fire or other
dangers (which God forbid) shall happen to any ship near
unto you, then you shall, by your boats and all other your
best means, seek to help and relieve her."

" Eighth, You shall give order that your ship may be
kept clean daily and sometimes washed, which, with God's
favour, shall preserve from sickness, and avoid many other
inconveniences."

" Fifteenth, Every captain and master of the fleet shall
have a special regard that no contention be found betwixt
the mariners and the soldiers."

" Nineteenth, No captain or master shall suffer any spoil
to be made aboard any ship or barque that shall be taken
by them or any of their companies, because the rest of the
company have interest in everything that shall be taken."

" Twenty-second, The watch shall be set every night by
eight of the o'clock, either by trumpet or drum, and sing-
ing the Lord's Prayer, some of the Psalms of David, or
clearing of the glass."

" Twenty-sixth, No person shall depart out of the ship
wherein he is placed into another without special leave of
his captain."

"Twenty-eighth, No person whatsoever shall dare to
strike any captain, lieutenant, master, or other officer, upon
pain of death; and furthermore, whatsoever he be that
shall strike any inferior person, he shall receive punish-
ment according to the offence given, be it by death or
otherwise."

Most of these articles are still in force ; but the first,
excellent as they are, have unhappily too often been set at
nought by officers and men.

CHAPTER VII

Jjatws

Just.

<FEOM A.D. 1567 TO A.D. 1625.)

'S James the First was totally unacquainted
with nautical affairs, having possessed no
fleet when King of Scotland, disputes con-
stantly arose respecting the honour of the
flag, which the English claimed, and this
induced the famous Hugo Grotius to write a treatise, in
which he endeavoured to prove the futility of their title to
the dominion of the sea. England, however, still main-
tained her right to be saluted by the ships of all other
nations, and the learned Selden supported the English,
asserting that they had a hereditary and uninterrupted
right to the sovereignty of the seas, conveyed to them by
their ancestors in trust for their latest posterity,

During this period numerous colonies were settled, and
the commerce of England extended in all directions by her
brave navigators. The navy was not neglected, twenty
ships being addecl by the king, and £50,000 voted for the
maintenance of the fleet. In the year 1610 the largest
ship of war yet constructed in England was built by order
of the king, and called the Prince. Her keel was 114 feet,
her cross-beam was 44 feet in length. She carried sixty-
four pieces of great ordnance, and she was of the burden
of 1400 tons. She was double built, and adorned most
sumptuously within and without with all manner of curious
carving, painting, and rich gilding, being in all respects the
greatest and goodliest ship that ever was built in England.
Raleigh's remarks to Prince Henry on the subject are
106

RALEICIH ON SHIP-BUILDING. 10?

worthy of note, though it appears his advice was not
followed. He recommended that the intended vessel
should be of smaller size than the Victory, in order that
the timber of the old ship might serve for the new. " If
she be bigger," he remarks, " she will be of less use, go
very deep to water, and be of mighty charge (our channels
decaying every year), less nimble, less manageable, and
seldom to be used. A well-conditioned ship should be, in
the first instance, strongly built ; secondly, swift in sail ;

STERN OP MAN-OF-WAR OF OLDEN WAYS.

thirdly, stout sided ; fourthly, her ports ought to be so laid
tha she may carry out her guns in all weathers ; fifthly,
she ought to hull well ; sixthly, she should stay well when
boarding or turning on a wind if required." He then con-
tinues : " It is to be noted that all ships sharp before, not
having a long floor, will fall rough into the sea from the
billow, and take in water over head and ears ; and the
same quality of all narrow-quartered ships to sink after

108 tOPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the tail. The high charging of ships is that which brings
many ill qualities upon them. It makes them extremely
leeward, makes them sink deep into the seas, makes them
labour in foul weather, and ofttimes overset. Safety is
more to be respected than show or niceness for ease.
In sea-journeys both cannot well stand together, and,
therefore, the most, necessary is to be chosen. Two decks
and a-half is enough, and no building at all above that
but a low master's cabin. Our masters and mariners will
say that the ships will bear more well enough ; and true it
is, if none but old mariners served in them. But men of
better sort, unused to such a life, cannot so well endure
the rolling and tumbling from side to side, where the seas
are never so little grown, which comes by high charging.
Besides, those high cabin- works aloft are very dangerous,
in that they may tear men with their splinters. Above
all other things, have care that the great guns are four
feet clear above water when all loading is in, or else those
best pieces are idle at sea ; for if the ports lie lower and be
open, it is dangerous ; and by that default was a goodly
ship and many gallant gentlemen lost in the days of Henry
the Eighth, before the Isle of Wight, in a ship called the
Mary Rose."

These remarks show how attentively Raleigh had studied
the subject of shipbuilding • and, undoubtedly, during his
time great improvements were made in the construction of
ships of the Royal Navy. A large East India ship of 1200
tons was also built at Woolwich, and was the first trading
ship of that size launched in the kingdom. The king
called her the Trade's Increase.

In 1622 the h'rst established contract for victualling the
Royal Navy was made, and every man's allowance settled.
It appears not to have differed, greatly from that served
out at the present <lay, except that on Friday fish, butter,
and cheese were served out ; showing that the Romish
custom of what is called fasting on Friday had not been
abolished. The king also gave annually £30,000 worth of
timber from the royal forests for the use of the navy.

The Dutch and other nations had, up to this time, been
in the habit of fishing in English waters, but, though the

ABUSES COMPLAINED OF. 109

pusillanimous king would not, of his own accord, have
interfered for fear of giving offence, so great an outcry Avas
raised by the people, that he was compelled to issue a pro-
clamation prohibiting any foreigners from fishing on the
British coast. Though in terms it appeared general, it was
in reality levelled only at the Dutch. They yielded, and
obtained by treaty permission to fish, on payment of cer-
tain dues. The nation at large gaining a voice in the
management of public affairs, discovered also that vast
abuses existed in the administration of the navy, as the
large sums granted by Parliament were squandered, the
brave commanders were unemployed, and cowardice trusted
with the highest offices; and that frauds, corruption, neglect
and misdemeanours were frequent and open. Numberless
petitions were sent to the sovereign, and a committee of
inquiry was appointed ; the alleged offences were strictly
examined into, some of the culprits were discharged, others
fined, and way made for better officers. The Royal Navy
being thus placed on a more respectable footing, the
spirit of enterprise was encouraged among private persons,
and trade once more flourished.

Considerable progress was made by the East India
Company, and, in 1610, Sir Henry Middleton sailed with a
larger fleet than had ever before been despatched to that
part of the world. On landing at Mocha, Sir Henry was
treacherously attacked during an entertainment to which
he had been invited, when many of his people were killed,
and he and the rest made prisoners. After remaining six
months in prison, he and some of his people escaped and
regained their ships ; then, returning to the town, he
threatened to reduce it to ashes unless the remainder of
the English were released and a heavy ransom paid him.
On this the English were set at liberty, and the sum was
paid. He afterwards encountered a large fleet of Portuguese,
who, attempting to impede his progress, he sank some and
captured others. Several Portuguese ships were captured,
and seventeen Arab vessels also fell into the hands of the
English. On his voyage home, seized with a mortal illness,
he died, honoured and lamented.

About the same time Captain Hudson, who had already

110 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

performed three voyages to the north, again sailed in search
of a north-west passage ; but his mate, Ibbott, fearing the
dangers they would have to encounter, formed a conspiracy.
Hudson, and those who adhered to him, were set on shore,
and perished miserably.

In 1611 the East India Company sent out another fleet
under Captain Hippin, and the following year a second
under Captain Saris, who reached Japan. By judicious
conduct, and the due administration of bribes to many
persons nearest the emperor, he succeeded in establishing
a trade for the English with Japan, returning home with
a very profitable cargo.

In the year 1611 the Muscovy Company despatched two
vessels to commence the whale fishery. On board these
vessels went three Biscayans who were accustomed to the
business. Having set sail late, they had only time to catch
one whale, but from it were made seven tons of oil. The
rest of the crew having observed the manner in which the
Biscayans performed the work, became thorough masters
of the operation. Though this commencement was but
small, it led to great results, and from henceforward there
was no want of people ready to enter into the undertaking.

In consequence of the account given by those who were
wrecked in the Sea Venture on the Bermudas, a colony
was sent out, and the hitherto desolate islands were peopled
by English settlers.

One of the most gallant exploits of this period was per-
formed by Captain Best, who sailed in command of a fleet
sent out by the East India Company. After remaining
for some time at Surat, he caught sight of a vast fleet of
Portuguese, numbering no less than 240 vessels. Having
beaten off a number of them that attacked him, he con-
tinued his course. They, however, having repaired damages,
the whole fleet came in search of him. As they bore down
under a cloud of sail, threatening his destruction, he was
advised by one of the Sultan's principal officers to fly.
Best replied that he would advise that to the Portuguese,
and, weighing anchor, stood out to meet the enemy. The
shore was crowded with natives eager to witness the en-
gagement. It ended, after four hours, as the other had

COMMENCEMENT OF THE WHALE FISHERY. Ill

done. The Portuguese, after receiving immense damage,
sailed away as fast as they could, and Captain Best returned
and anchored in the harbour, amid the shouts of the people.
The account of the engagement was everywhere told among
the natives, and the courage of the English magnified to
the highest. After touching at Achin, and renewing his
friendship with the people, in the succeeding year, he arrived
in England, rich in his lading, more in honour.

In the year 1G13 the Muscovy Company sent out seven
stout ships to catch whales. They were followed by several
Dutch, Flemish, and French ships, and half-a-dozen English
interlopers. The Company's ships gathering into a body,
ordered the others, in the name of the King of England,
to depart from the coast, the fishery of which he had
appropriated to his own subjects. The Dutch sending a
taunting answer, the English replied with their cannon,
compelling their rivals to take their departure, and the
English private ships to fish for them. With this help,
they made a good return.

In 1614 the celebrated pirate Sir Andrew Barton, with
two ships, laid the coasts of England and Scotland under
contribution. Two ships of war, under the command of Sir
William Monson and Sir Francis Howard, were sent out to
effect their capture. One of them was taken off Sinclair
Castle, the seat of the Earl of Caithness. Sir Andrew for
long managed to keep at a distance from his pursuers,
having friends in various places, especially in Ireland, who
gave htm assistance. Among others was a certain Mr.
Cormat, who treacherously betrayed the Scotch pirate into
the hands of Sir William Monson. His ship was captured,
and he, with two or three of his officers, executed.

Considerable progress at this period was made in the
science of navigation. In the year 1624 Mr. Gunter, pro-
fessor of astronomy at Gresham College, Cambridge, pub-
lished his scale of logarithms, sines, &c., and invented the
scale which has since gone by his name.

No darker stain rests on the memory of James than that
of his judicial murder of Sir Walter Raleigh. Influenced
by his evil councillors, the pusillanimous king offered up
the gallant seaman as a sacrifice to the revengeful Spaniards,

112 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

or rather to their ambassador, Gondomar. Cheerful to the
last, the noble Raleigh bade farewell to all around him ;
then, taking the axe, he felt along upon the edge, and
smiling, said to the sheriff, " This is a sharp medicine, but
it is a physician for all diseases." On being asked which
way he would lay himself, he placed his head on the block,
observing, " So that the heart be right, it is no matter
which way the head lieth."

Some lines written on Sir Walter's death thus finish : —

" I saw in every stancler-by
Pale death; life only in thine eye.
The legacy thou gavest us then
We'll sue for when thou diest again.
Farewell ! truth shall this story say,
We died, thou only livedst that day."

Such was the end of the great Sir Walter Raleigh, once
so highly in favour with Queen Elizabeth, and, next to
Drake, the great scourge and terror of the Spaniards.

The Algerines were then, as they were for many years
afterwards, the pests of the ocean. Their chief cruising
ground was in the Straits of Gibraltar. Numerous English
merchantmen fell into their clutches. The same deter-
mined spirit, however, which has since been exhibited by
British seamen, existed in those days, and induced, on
several occasions, the captives to make gallant efforts to
effect their escape. Among these instances two are espe-
cially worthy of note.

The Jacob, of Bristol, was entering the straits when she
was pounced upon by an Algerine and captured. The
pirates took all the crew out of her with the exception of
four, and sent thirteen of their own people on board to
bring her to Algiers. Four of the captives, knowing the
terrible slavery to which they would be subjected should
they reach Algiers, resolved to attempt the recapture of
their vessel. Happily for them, on the fifth night after
they had been taken, a heavy gale sprang up. While the
Algerine captain was assisting his followers to shorten sail,
two of the English, who had been liberated that they
might lend ,a hand, coming suddenly upon him hove him
overboard. Having got hold of a rope which was towing

GALLANT EXPLOITS. 113

astern, he had almost regained the deck, when one of the
Englishmen drove him back with the pump-handle, the
act being, fortunately, unobserved during the darkness and
confusion by the rest of the pirates. This done, they made
their way into the master's cabin, where they found two
cutlasses, with which suddenly attacking the pirates, they
drove them from one part of the ship to the other, killed
two, and made a third leap overboard. The other nine
they drove between decks, when they forced the hatches
down upon them. Making use of two or three of the
Algerines at a time, as they required them for making or
shortening sail, they carried the ship triumphantly into
St. Luca, in Spain, where the Algerines were sold for slaves.
At the same time the Nicholas, of Plymouth, of 40 tons
burden, commanded by John Rawlins, and the Bonaven-
ture of 70 tons, were bound out together up the straits.
On the 18th of November they came in sight of Gibraltar,
when they discovered five ships, which they soon perceived
to be pirates, making all sail towards them. In vain they
attempted to reach Gibraltar; the Algerines coming up
with the Bonaventure, she was captured by their admiral,
while the vice-admiraJ soon afterwards compelled Rawlins
to strike. The same day the admiral put on shore twelve
of the Bonaventure 's crew, with some other English cap-
tives before taken, but the vice-admiral ordered Rawlins
and five of his men to be brought on board his vessel,
leaving three men and a boy, with thirteen Algerines, on
board the prize. The following night, during a storm, the
Nicholas was lost sight of. On the 22nd the vice-admiral,
with Rawlins on board, arrived at Algiers. A few days after-
wards the Nicholas arrived, when the prisoners were carried
to the pacha, who, having chosen one of them for himself,
the rest were afterwards sent to the market to be sold.
Rawlins was bought by the captain, who took him at a
low price because he had a lame hand, but perceiving that
this rendered him unfit for work, sold him again, with two
more of his men, to an English renegado, John Goodhall,
who, with his partners, had bought the Exchange, of Bristol,
a ship formerly taken by the pirates, which at that time
lay unrigged inside the mole, and for which they wanted

114 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

some skilful seamen. On the 7th of January, 1622, the
ship, being fitted, was hauled out of the mole. She carried
twelve cast guns, with a crew of sixty-three Algerines, nine
Englishmen, one Frenchmen, and four Hollanders, all free-
men ; and for gunners, she had two soldiers, one an English
and the other a Dutch renegado. Rawlins, from the first
going on board, resolved to attempt regaining his liberty.
For this purpose he furnished himself with ropes and
pieces of iron, and iron crowbars to secure the scuttles,
gratings, and cabins, and when, having gained over the
other Europeans, he hoped, by being masters of the gun-
room, ordnance, and powder, either to blow up their
captors or to kill them as they came out of their cabins.
He first made known his design to the English, and by
degrees won over the four Hollanders, who offered to join
them and gain the assistance of the Dutch renegadoes,
while the English undertook to obtain the assistance of
the renegado of their own nation. During this time
Rawlins, who was acting as sailing-master, persuaded the
Algerine captain to steer to the northward, though he
knew very well that they had already passed the straits.
On the 16th of February they took an English barque
from Torbay, laden with salt. With the exception of the
mate and two men, the crew were removed from the prize,
and ten Algerines, with the Dutch and one English rene-
gado, who were all in the plot, were sent on board instead.
Before they left the Exchange, Rawlins assured them that
he would make his attempt that night or the next, and
give them a signal by which they might know when he
was about it, advising them to acquaint the English in the
barque with their design, and to steer towards the English
coast. Next morning the Algerine captain got very much
out of humour in consequence of not seeing the prize ; and
Rawlins, fearing that he might return to Algiers, thought
it high time to put his plan into execution. He had
already made the master and crew of the Torbay vessel
acquainted with it ; h^e now told the Algerine captain that
there was a great deal of water below, and that it did not
come to the pumps because the ship was too far by the
head. For the purpose of remedying this an order was

VESSELS RECOVERED FROM PIRATES. 115

issued to bring four guns astern ; two of them were accord-
ingly placed with their mouths directly before the binnacle.
Rawlins had already provided himself with sufficient powder,
which he obtained from the gunner, to prime the pieces.
He now assured the captain that in order to right the ship
all hands must work at the pumps. While this was doing,
two matches were brought, one between two spoons, and
the other in a can, and immediately one of the guns being
discharged, the binnacle was shattered to pieces. On this
signal, all the English collected together, and having seized
such arms as they could lay hold of quickly cleared the
hold, while another party made themselves masters of the
magazine and arms. The pirates, who were on the poop,
now attacked the English, who, being by this time all
armed, compelled them to cry for quarter. They were
ordered to come down one by one. So enraged were the
English that several of the pirates were killed, while others
leaped into the sea. Thus of forty-five Algerines who were
on board, the captain and five more alone were saved.
With these the gallant Rawlins and his men arrived at
Plymouth on the 15th of February, 1622. The Torbay
barque reached Penzarice, in Cornwall, having all along
persuaded the Algerines that they were going to Algiers,
till they came in sight of England. When the pirates
were below trimming the salt, they nailed the hatches
down upon them. Having come to an anchor, they carried
their captives to Exeter.

CHAPTER VIII.

jfirsi to % femmaftoit of

(FROM A.D. 1625 TO A.D. 1660.)

[HE unhappy Charles ascended the throne under
disadvantageous circumstances. His father
had left him a heavy debt ; the Duke of
Buckingham, his chief minister, was uni-
versally hated, and England had greatly sunk
in the estimation of foreign nations. James had agreed to
furnish the King of France with some ships of war to assist
him against the King of Spain or his allies in Italy. In
pursuance of this agreement, Captain John Pennington was
despatched in the Vanguard, having under him six hired
merchant-vessels. The King of France, however, being hotly
engaged in a war with his Protestant subjects, intended to
make use of the ships for the reduction of Rochelle. Pen-
nington, on discovering this, immediately wrote to the Duke
of Buckingham declining so odious a service, and request-
ing leave to return to England. Buckingham, in reply,
having obtained an order from Charles, commanded him
to employ his ships in such service as the King of France
should direct. The latter, at the same time, sent a letter
to the English captain, requiring him to take on board a
number of French soldiers, with his admiral, the Duke of
Montmorency, and repair before Rochelle. This Captain
Pennington, with true English spirit, refused to do ; on
which the French officer who had brought the letter
returned on board the Vanguard to protest against him
as a rebel to his king and country. Not content with
having once done this, he returned again and enforced his
116

NOBLE CONDUCT OF THE " VANGUARD'S " CREW. 117

request by threats and menaces, at which the seamen
were so enraged, that they weighed anchor and set sail,
crying out they would rather be hanged at home than be
slaves to the French, and fight against their own religion.
The Vanguard accordingly returned to the Downs. On
his arrival, the captain sending an express to court with
advice of his proceedings, immediately received a positive
order, under the king's sign-manual, to return and deliver
up the ships into the hands of a French officer at Dieppe.
Having complied with this order, he quitted the command,
and he and all the officers and seamen, both of the Van-
guard and merchant- vessels, left their ships and returned
to England.

The whole nation burned with indignation when they
heard that Captain Pennington's ships had been delivered
up to the French and employed against Rochelle, and
demanded their immediate restitution. The French king
excused himself on the pretence that his subjects, by whom
they were manned, would not now quit them ; on which,
to appease the people, the Duke of Buckingham issued
commissions of reprisal. The St. Peter, of Havre-de-Grace,
and other French vessels were on this captured. Hearing
of this proceeding, the French king not only absolutely
refused to restore the seven ships, but seized on all the
English merchants' property throughout his dominions.
To carry on the war with Spain a powerful fleet of eighty
English and Dutch ships was fitted out under the com-
mand of Cecil, afterwards created Viscount Wimbleton.
Ten regiments were embarked on board the fleet, under
the Earls of Essex and Denbigh. They proceeded to
Cadiz, when the troops, having broken into the wine-stores,
became so excessively intoxicated, that had the enemy set
on them they must have been put to the sword. The
officers hastened, therefore, their re-embarkation, and the
expedition returned without having effected anything.

In 1627 three expeditions were undertaken, professedly
to assist the people of Rochelle, but, being badly managed,
possibly through treachery, they all failed. It was while
fitting out one of these fleets that the Duke of Bucking-
ham, then Lord High Admiral, was murdered by Felton,

118 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

A severe action was fought near Ormuz, in the Gulf of
Persia, between four English ships, under the command of
Captain John Weddell, and four Dutch ships, with eight
Portuguese galleons and thirty-two frigates. On hearing
of the approach of the enemy, the English captain told his
Dutch allies that he had resolved, for the glory of God, the
honour of his nation, the profit of the worthy employers,
and the safeguard of their lives, ships, and goods, to fight
it out as long as a man was living in his ship to bear a
sword. To whom the Dutchmen answered that they were
of a like resolution, and would stick as close to the English
as the shirts to their backs ; and so in friendly manner each
took leave for that night. The Dutch the next morning
were the first to get into action. Friends and foes were
now within musket-shot of each other, when it fell a calm,
and the ships of the allies could not work but as the tide
set them. When the Portuguese were aboard and aboard,
they had a great advantage with their frigates, which often
towed them clear one of another. Thus they lay four or
five hours pelting and beating one another with their
ordnance, while the Portuguese frigates plied the English
and Dutch with their small shot as fast as they could, the
Royal James being forced to keep the barge ahead to pull
the ship's head to and fro. Thus they fought on till night,
several men being killed, the Dutch having also lost their
chief commander. For several days the fight lasted. On
one occasion the James singled out a Portuguese lying by
her side with foresail and fore-topsail aback, so near that a
man might quoit a biscuit into her, and fired not less than
five hundred shots before she got clear. Thus the small
squadron kept the enemy at bay, till scarcely enough
powder and shot remained on board the Royal James for
another day's fight. The English lost 29 officers and men,
and the Dutch about the same number. The Portuguese,
whose fleet carried 232 guns and 2100 men, had 481
killed.

Another fight in the same locality, in the year 1625, be-
tween three English East India ships, the Lion, Dolphin,
and Palsgrave, and eighteen or twenty Portuguese frigates,
under the command of Don Rufero, ended more disas-

BARBAROUS SYSTEM OF WARFARE IN THE EAST. 119

trously. The Lion, being boarded by both the admiral
and vice-admiral, was dreadfully shattered, and torn in
pieces in the stern, in consequence of the poop blowing up
with fifty or sixty of the enemy on it. The Portuguese
then left her, expecting that she would sink or burn down
to the water's edge, and pursued the Palsgrave and Dol-
phin, which, however, effected their escape. The brave
crew of the Lion, having put out the fire, succeeded in
patching her up sufficiently to reach Ormuz, where they
received every assistance they required from the Sultan.
They were in hopes of being relieved by other English
ships, when Kufero with his frigates came rowing towards
them. The Lion lay in such a position that she could
only bring her chase-pieces to bear upon the enemy. So
well were they served that they sank two of the Portuguese
frigates before they could board her, and two more after
they were by her side. So closely were the English then
pressed by Rufero that, unable to open a port in the ship,
they were forced to shoot away ports and all. In addition
to this, the Portuguese so completely surrounded her by
fire-works, that all her masts and sails caught fire, as well as
her upper-deck, which in half-an-hour fell down on their
heads, and drove them from their guns. On seeing death
on either side, some leaped overboard, and put themselves
on the mercy of the enemy, while the rest set fire to the
powder-room, and blew up the ship. Those who were
received on board the frigates were carried into Ormuz
Island, and the next morning Rufero gave orders to cut off
all their heads, with the exception of one Thomas Winter-
brune, whom he sent with a letter to the merchants at
Gambroon. The rest, twenty-six persons, were imme-
diately beheaded. This will give us some idea of the mode
of proceeding between belligerents in those days. The
object of the Portuguese was to prevent the English and
Dutch from interfering with their trade, and they hoped
by such horrible cruelty to intimidate others from coming
out, or else were actuated by a spirit of barbarous revenge.
In 1626 the wages of seamen in the Royal Navy were
increased to twenty shillings a-month, and of ordinary sea-
men to fourteen shillings, besides an allowance to a chaplain

120 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of fouipence, to a barber twopence, and to the Chest at
Chatham of sixpence per month. A clerk and a keeper of
all the king's stores and storehouses at Chatham, Ports-
mouth, Deptford, &c., were also appointed.

An arbitrary tax having been imposed in the year 1634,
by the name of ship-money, which compelled all the seaport
towns to furnish a fleet to prevent the Dutch fishing on
the coast of Britain ; it was now extended throughout the
whole kingdom. The fleet was to consist of 44 ships,
carrying 8000 men, and to be armed and fitted for war ;
but, as will be remembered, the unhappy king raised the
money, but spent it on other objects.

In 1637 was laid the keel of the Royal Sovereign, of
1 28 feet, the first three-decked ship built for the Royal
Navy. From the fore-end of the beak-head to the after-
end of the stern she measured 232 feet, and she had a
beam of 48 feet, while from the bottom of the keel to the
top of the stern-lantern she measured 76 feet. She carried
30 guns on her lower-deck, 30 on the middle-deck, 26 on
the main-deck, 14 on the quarter-deck, 12 on the forecastle,
and had 10 stern and bow-chasers. She was of 1637 tons
burden ; she carried eleven anchors, the largest weighing
4400 pounds ; she had five stern-lanterns, the centre so
large as to contain ten persons upright. She was built by
Peter Pett, under the inspection of Phineas Pett.

The French, at the same time, began to establish a
regular marine, having fifty ships and twenty galleys in
their navy, And now, for the first time, was showed their
superiority over the Spaniards, on which Cardinal Richelieu
ordered the following motto to be placed on the stern of
the largest : " Even on the main, our Gallic lilies triumph
over Spain."

A fund was now established by the king for the relief of
maimed and shipwrecked or otherwise distressed sailors in
the merchant-service, and for the widows and children of
such as should be killed or lost at sea. To form it, sixpence
per month was deducted from the pay of sea-officers, and
fourpence from all sailors' wages from the port of London.
This fund was placed under the management of the Cor-
poration of the Trinity House.

WAR WITH THE DUTCH. 121

In 1640 the first frigate, the Constant Hardwick, was
built, under the direction of Peter Pett. The king added
ten more ships to the Royal Navy, which, at the com-
mencement of the Civil War, consisted of eighty-two sail.

C!je Commontnealtf).

We now come to that period when one of the greatest
men who ever ruled England was to raise her to the
highest position among the nations of Europe.

Numerous engagements had taken place between the
ships adhering to the king, chiefly under the command of
Prince Rupert, and those of the Parliament, under Warwick,
Dean, Popham, and Blake. Blake having finally dispersed
Prince Rupert's ships, was appointed commander-in-chief
of the British fleet. He was at first employed in reducing
the Scilly Islands and various places in the West Indies
and America, which still held out for the king. On war
breaking out with the Dutch, he was summoned home to
take command of the fleet sent against them. The Dutch
had long been jealous of the commercial progress made by
the English, who everywhere interfered with their trade,
and they only now sought for an opportunity to break with
their ancient allies. It was not long wanting. England
claiming the sovereignty of the seas, insisted that the ships
of other nations should strike their flags whenever they
met them. On the 14th May, Captain Young, the com-
mander of an English man-of-war, fell in with a Dutch
squadron off the back of the Isle of Wight. The Dutch-
man refused to strike his flag, on which Captain Young,
without further ado, fired a broadside upon the Dutch
commander's ship, which induced her to haul down her
flag. This was the commencement of hostilities, which
were long carried on between the two nations — the Dutch,
notwithstanding the gallantry of Van Tromp, De Witt, De
Ruyter, and other admirals, being in most cases defeated
by Blake, Penn, and other naval commanders.

Soon after this Admiral Van Tromp put to sea with a
fleet of upwards of forty sail, under pretence of protecting

122 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the Dutch trade. He was met coming into the Downs by
a squadron, when he stated that he was compelled to put
in by stress of weather. The English commander im-
mediately sent notice to Blake, who was lying off Dover.
Blake at once sailed in search of Van Tromp, and on
approaching, fired to put the Dutchman in rnind that it
was his duty to strike his flag. Blake commenced the
action with but fifteen ships, and with them, for four hours,
fought the Dutchmen till, late at night, he was joined by
the rest of his fleet. By this time two Dutch ships had
been taken and one disabled, the English having lost none,
when Van Tromp bore away and escaped.

In the Mediterranean, Commodore Bodley, in command
of four English ships, fought a gallant action against eight
Dutch ships, commanded by Admiral Van Galen. The
Dutchman laid the English commodore's ships aboard, but
having been thrice set on fire, he sheered off with much
loss. The second ship, which then took her place, was also
beaten off, having lost her main-mast. Two others next
attacked the commodore, but were defeated ; though the
English lost a hundred men, killed and wounded. The
Phoenix, an English ship, had meantime boarded one of
the commodore's assailants and carried her, but was in
turn boarded and captured by another Dutch ship, and
taken into Leghorn Roads. Here Captain Van Tromp
took command of the Phoenix. The Dutchmen, thinking
themselves secure, spent their time in mirth and jollity on
shore, when Captain Owen Cox, now serving in Commodore
Platten's squadron, hearing of what was going forward,
manned three boats with thirty men in each. In addition
to their weapons, each man was provided with a bag of
meal to throw in the eyes of the Dutchmen. Captain Cox
pulled in during the night, and got alongside the frigate at
daylight. The boats' crews had each their appointed work ;
one had to cut the cables, the second had to go aloft and
loose the sails, while the third closed the hatches and kept
the crew in subjection. Van Tromp was below, but hearing
the alarm, he rushed out of his cabin, and discharged his
pistols at the English, who were by that time masters of
the frigate. Finding that his ship was captured, he leaped

DISASTROUS ACTION OFF LEGHORN. 123

out of the cabin window, and swam safely to a Dutch ship
astern. The Phcsnix was carried off in triumph, and
reached Naples in safety.- Of course, the Grand Duke of
Tuscany remonstrated, and ordered Commodore Flatten
either to restore the Phoenix or to quit Leghorn ; he was
determined not to do the former, and sending to Commo-
dore Bodley, who was lying at Elba with his small squadron,
it was arranged he should come off the port, and draw the
Dutch away. This he did. Commodore Van Galen's
squadron, at the time lying off the port to intercept him,
consisted of sixteen sail ; while, besides the Alfred, of 52
guns, he had only the Bonaventure, of 44 guns, the Samp-
son, of 3G, the Levant Merchant, of 28, the Pilgrim and
Mary, of 30 guns. He contrived, however, to let Commo-
dore Bodley know his position, who attempted to draw the
Dutch off, and clear the way for his squadron. Van Galen,
after chasing for some time, perceiving Platteii's squadron,
returned to attack it. During the action which ensued,
the Bonaventure blew up, while Van Galen lost a leg from
a shot, of which wound he died. Commodore Bodley's
squadron having now joined, the action became general.
Captain Cornelius Van Tromp, who attacked the Sampson,
was beaten off, but she was directly afterwards destroyed
by a fire-ship. The Alfred, the Levant Merchant, and Pil-
grim were all overpowered and taken, and the Mary alone
effected her escaped, and joined the squadron of Commodore
Bodley.

Another desperate action soon afterwards took place
between the Dutch and the English in the channel, the
English having 105 ships, and the Dutch 104. The action
had lasted about an hour when Admiral Dean, the second
in command, was cut in two by a cannon shot. Monk, the
Commander-in-chief, seeing him fall, threw a cloak over his
body to conceal it from the seamen. The ship of Van
Kelson, the Dutch rear-admiral, was blown up after this.
From eleven in the morning till six in the evening the
battle raged, when the Dutch endeavoured to escape.
Blake joined the English fleet during the night, and pur-
sued them. About noon the battle was renewed, and
for four hours continued to rage. Van Tromp grappled

124 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Admiral Penn's ship, the James, and attempted to board,
but was repulsed, and was boarded in return. The English
having driven the Dutchmen below, Van Tromp ordered
the deck to be blown up, when numbers of the boarders
were killed, though he escaped. His ship was again boarded
by the crews of the James and of another ship, and he
would have been captured had not De Witt and De Ruy-
ter bore down and saved him. The battle was decisive ;
eleven Dutch ships were taken and thirteen hundred
prisoners, while seven were sunk, two were blown up, thus
making twenty ships taken and destroyed.

Grand naval engagements were carried on in those days
with very little order or regularity, each ship singling out
an antagonist, and attacking her as opportunities offered.
Even then, however, some of the more sagacious naval com-
manders discerned that this was not the wisest plan for gain-
ing a victory. Sir William Monson, one of the most skilful
admirals of the period, observes, that the most famous
naval battles of late years were those of Lepanto against
the Turks, in 1577, of the Spaniards against the French,
1580, and the English against the Spanish Armada, in
1588. After making various remarks, he continues : " The
greatest advantage in a sea-fight is to get the wind of one
another ; for he that has the wind is out of danger of being
boarded, and has the advantage where to board and how
to attempt the enemy. The wind being thus gotten, the
general is to give no other directions than to every admiral
of a squadron to draw together their squadron and every
one to undertake his opposite squadron, or where he should
do it to his greatest advantage, but to be sure to take
a good distance of one another, and to relieve that
squadron that should be overcharged or distressed. Let
them give warning to their ships not to venture so far
as to bring them to leeward of the enemy, for it would
be in the power of the enemy to board them, and they
not to avoid it."

The strict ordering of battles by ships was before the
invention of the bowline, for then there was no sailing but
before the wind, nor any fighting but by boarding ; where-
as now a ship will sail within six points of thirty-two, and

MOKK AND VAN TiioMP. 125

by the advantage of wind, may rout any force that is
placed in that form of battle — namely, that of the Spanish
Armada, to which he is referring. The Admiralty, how-
ever, did not appear to agree with Sir William Monson,
for the following instructions were issued : — " You are to
take notice, that in case of joining battle you are to leave
it to the vice-admiral to assail the enemy's admiral, and
to match yours as equally as you can to succour the
rest of the fleet, as cause shall require, not wasting your
powder nor shooting afar off, nor till you come side by
side."

The more sagacious commanders saw, that in order to
ensure victory, something beyond a vast host of ships fight-
ing without order was necessary, and perceived that the
fleet which fought in line was in most cases victorious.
The fiercest action of this period was fought on the 9th
and 10th of August, when the English fleet, under Monk,
came in sight of the Dutch, commanded by Admiral Van
Tromp, who had with him many other celebrated officers,
and nearly a hundred ships of war. Monk had about the
same number of ships, which he drew up in line. The
English manoeuvred to gain the wind, but Van Tromp,
who had it at the first, kept it with advantage, and drew
up his own fleet in a line parallel to that of the English,
when, bearing down upon them, he began the battle with
so great a fury, that many ships were soon seen dismasted,
others sunk, and others on fire. A spectator, who was on
board a vessel at a distance, describes the scene : " The
two fleets were now enveloped in a cloud of smoke so
dense that it was impossible to form a judgment of the
fierceness of the battle otherwise than by the horrible noise
of the cannon with which the air resounded, and by the
mountains of fire which every now and then were seen
rising out of the smoke, with a crash that gave sufficient
notice that whole ships were blowing up. The battle
lasted for eight hours, and was the most hard fought of
any that had happened throughout the war. The Dutch
fire-ships were managed with great dexterity, and many
of the large vessels in the English fleet were in the utmost
danger. The Triumph was so effectually fired, that most

126 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of her crew threw themselves into the sea, though others
remaining behind put out the fire. Admiral Lawson
engaged Admiral Ruyter, killed and wounded above half
his men, and so disabled his ship, that she was towed out
of the fleet. About noon Van Tromp was shot through
the body by a musket-ball as he was giving his orders.
This greatly discouraged the Dutch, so that they began to
beat to windward, and to engage only in retreating, having
but one flag still flying. As the smoke cleared off, the two
fleets were seen in a condition which showed the horrible
fury of the conflict in which they had been engaged. The
whole sea was covered with dead bodies, with fragments,
and with hulls of wrecks, still smoking or burning. Through-
out the remainder of the two fleets were seen only dis-
masted vessels, and sails perforated through and through by
cannon balls. The English pursued them, but being afraid
of the shoals, they came to an anchor six leagues off the
Texel. The loss of the Dutch amounted to 6200 men,
including Admiral Van Tromp and Evertzen, with many
other persons of distinction, with twenty-six ships of war
sunk or burnt. On the side of the English, 7 captains
and 500 men were killed, and 5 captains and 800 men
wounded, besides which three of their ships were destroyed.
Among the English ships were several merchantmen, and
in order to take off the thoughts of their captains from
their owners' vessels and cargoes, Monk sent them to each
other's ships, a scheme which answered perfectly well, no
ships in the fleet having behaved better. He also, it was
said, to save time, issued orders at the commencement of
the fight, that no quarter should be given or taken. This,
however, was not so strictly observed, but that 1200 Dutch-
men were saved from the sinking ships. On this occasion
the Dutch set the example of fighting in line, though in
their case, owing to the desperate valour of the English,
the plan did not succeed as well as it did on many other
subsequent occasions. Not without difficulty did the Eng-
lish ships get back to England. This victory compelled
the Dutch to sue for peace.

It was at this time that the following song is supposed
to have been written, showing the spirit which animated

BLAKE'S LAST BATTLE. 127

the nation. It is probably, as will be seen, the original of
" Ye Mariners of England."

" When gallants are carousing

In taverns on a row,
Then we sweep o'er the deep
When the stormy winds do blow."

" Jack," however, was to have his consolation, for at the
end, as we read —

" When we return in safety,

With wages for our pains;
The tapster and the vintner

Will help to share our gains.
. We'll call for liquor roundly,

And pay before we go;
Then we roar on the shore
When the stormy winds do blow," &c.

The gallant Blake's latest achievement was the capture
of numerous Spanish galleons, after a desperate battle off
Teneriffe. He, however, did not live to receive the fresh
honours Parliament was ready to bestow on him, as he died
on the 17th of August, on board the George, just as she
was entering Plymouth Sound. As Clarendon says of him :
" He was the first to infuse that proportion of courage into
seamen, by making them see by experience what mighty
things they could do if they were resolved, and taught them
to fight in fire as well as upon water ; and although he had
been very well imitated and followed, he was the first to
give an example of that kind of naval courage which leads
to bold and resolute deeds."

The first duty of the English fleet after the restoration
had been determined on was to bring over Charles the
Second, who landed in Kent on the 23rd May, 1660.

CHAPTER IX.
Cfwries % Second anfr James %

(FROM A.D. 1660 TO A.D. 1689.)

| HE object of Roman Catholic France was to
keep Protestant England embroiled with Hol-
land, and in the profligate Charles the Second,
a willing instrument was found for carrying
out her designs. War was declared, and the
Duke of York took command of a fleet consisting of 109
men-of-war, and 28 fire-ships and ketches, with 21,000 sea-
men and soldiers on board. The Duke having blockaded
the Texel, was compelled at length for want of provisions to
return to England, and immediately the Dutch fleet sailed
out under the command of Baron Opdam, Evertzen, and
Cornelius Van Tromp. Directly afterwards nine merchant-
ships of the English Hamburgh Company and a frigate
of 34 guns fell into their hands. Opdam at all risks was
ordered to attack the English, which he did, contrary to
his own opinion, while his opponents had the advantage of
the wind. At first the battle appeared tolerably equal,
but the Earl of Sandwich, with the Blue Squadron, piercing
into the centre of the Dutch fleet, divided it into two parts,
and began that confusion which ended in its total defeat.
The Duke of York, who was in the Royal Charles, a ship
of 80 guns, was in close fight with Admiral Opdam in
the Endrackt, of 84 guns. The contest was severe, the
Earl of Falmonth, Lord Muskerry, and Mr. Boyle, second
son of the Earl of Burlington, standing near the duke,
were killed by a chain-shot. In the heat of the action the
Dutch admiral's ship blew up, and of five hundred of his

128

VICTORY OVER THE bUTctt. 120

gallant men, among whom were a great number of volun-
teers of the best families in Holland, only five were saved.
A fire-ship falling foul of four Dutch* ships, the whole were
burnt. Shortly afterwards three others suffered the same
fate. The whole Dutch fleet seemed now to be but one
blaze, and the cries of so many miserable wretches who
were perishing either by fire or water was more frightful
than the noise of the cannon. The English gave their
vanquished enemy all the assistance they could, while with
continued fury they assailed the rest. The English lost
but one ship, while they took eighteen of the largest Dutch
ships, sunk or burnt about fourteen mpre, killed four
thousand men, and took two thousand prisoners, who were
brought into Colchester. Among them were sixteen cap-
tains. As the bards of old stirred up the warriors of their
tribe to deeds of valour, so the naval poets of those days
wrote songs to animate the spirits of British tars. The
following lines are said to have been written on the eve of
the battle by Lord Buckhurst, afterwards Earl of Dorset: —

To all you ladies now on land

We men at sea indite,
But first would have you understand

How hard it is to write ;
The muses now, and Neptune too,
We must implore to write to you.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

II.

For tho' the muses should prove kind,

And fill our empty brain ;
Yet if rough Neptune rouse the wind

To wave the azure main,
Our paper, pen and ink, and we
Roll up and down our ships at sea.
With a fa, la, &c.

ill.

Then if we write not by each post,

Think not we are unkind,
Nor yet conclude our ships are lost

By Dutchmen or by wind,
Ours tears we'll send a speedier way —
The tide shall bring them twice a-day.
With a fa, la, &c.

130 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

IV.

The king, with wonder and surprise,

Will swear the seas grow bold,
Because the tides will higher rise

Than e'er they used of old,
But let him know it is our tears
Bring floods of grief to Whitehall stairs.
With a fa, la, &c.

Let wind and weather do its worst,

Be you to us but kind,
Let Dutchmen vapour, Spaniards curse,

No sorrow shall we find ;
'Tis then no matter how things go,
Or who's our friend, or who's our foe.
With a fa, la, &c.

VI.

And now we've told you all our loves,

And likewise all our fears,
In hopes this declaration moves

Some pity from your tears ;
Let's hear of no inconstancy,
We have too much of that at sea.
With a fa, la, &c.

Notwithstanding this defeat, the Dutch in a short time
were again ready for battle. The fight lasted without
interruption from three in the morning till seven in the
evening. The remains of the Dutch fleet made sail for the
Texel, but were not pursued by the duke. "After the
fight," says Burnet, " a council of war was called to concert
the method of action when they should come up with the
enemy. In that council, Penn, who commanded under the
duke, happened to say that they must prepare for better
work the next engagement. He knew well the courage of
the Dutch was never so high as when they were desperate.
The Earl of Montague, who was then a volunteer, and one
of the duke's corps, told him it was very visible that
remark made an impression upon him ; and all the duke's
domestics said, 'He had got near enough — why should
he venture a second time.' The duchess had also given a
strict charge to all the duke's servants to do all they could

PUSILLANIMITY OF JAMES. 131

to hinder him to engage too far. When matters were
settled they went to sleep, and the duke ordered a call to
be given him when they should get up with the Dutch
fleet. It is not known what passed between the duke and
Brouncker, who was of his bed-chamber, and then in wait-
ing, but he came to Penu as from the duke and said, ' The
duke orders the sail to be slackened.' Penn was struck
with the order, but did not go about to argue the matter
with the duke himself as he ought to have done, but
obeyed it. When the duke had slept, he upon his waking
went out upon the quarter-deck, and seemed amazed to
see the sails slackened, and that thereby all hopes of over-
taking the Dutch was lost." It was not the only occasion
on which James the Second showed the white feather.

Of the unfortunate Dutch officers who escaped, three
were publicly shot at the Helder, four were ordered to
have their swords broken over their heads by the common
hangman, and the master of the vice-admiral to stand upon
a scaffold with a halter about his neck under the gallows,
while the others were executed, and he was afterwards sent
into perpetual banishment. Two more were degraded and
rendered incapable of serving the States more.

Before long the Dutch had their revenge. Charles being
easily persuaded to lay up his ships and pocket the money
voted for their maintenance, the Dutch, prompted by the
French, who promised their assistance, rapidly fitted out a
fleet under Admiral Van Ghendt. To deceive the English,
he sailed for the Firth of Forth, which he entered, and
after firing away to little purpose for some time, took his
departure, and joined De Ruyter, who with seventy sail of
ships appeared in the mouth of the Thames on the 7th of
June, 1667. A squadron was immediately despatched up
the river, when the fort of Sheerness was burnt and plun-
dered, though bravely defended by Sir Edward Spragg.
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, hastening down with some land
forces, sank several vessels in the entrance of the Medway,
and laid a strong chain across it ; but the Dutch, with the
high tide and strong easterly wind, broke their way through
and burnt the Matthias, the Unity, and the Charles the
Fifth, which had been taken from them. The next day

132 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

they proceeded with six men-of-war and five fire-ships as
far as Upnor Castle, but met with so warm a reception,
that they advanced no farther. On their return they
burnt the Royal Oak, and damaged the Loyal London
and the Great James. They also carried off with them
the hull of the Royal Charles, which the English twice
set on fire, but which they as often quenched. Captain
Douglas, when the enemy had set her on fire, having
received no command to retire, said it should never be
-told that a Douglas had quitted his post without orders,
and resolutely continuing on board, was burnt with his
ship, falling a glorious sacrifice to discipline, and showing
an example of no common bravery.

While the Dutch were in the Thames, a large number of
their merchantmen, however, fell into the hands of the Eng-
lish, amply recompensing the latter for the loss they had
sustained. The gallant action of Captain Dawes, com-
manding the Elizabeth frigate, must be mentioned. Falling
in with fifteen sail of Rotterdam men-of-war, he fought
their rear-admiral, of "64 and five others of 48 and 50
guns, and presently fought the admiral, of 70 guns, and
two of his seconds, yet got clear of them all. Shortly
afterwards he engaged two Danish men-of-war, of 40 guns
each, in which action, after four hours' fight, he was struck
by a cannon-ball, crying with his last breath, " For God's
sake ! don't yield the frigate to those fellows." Soon after,
his lieutenant being desperatejy wounded, and the master
who succeeded him slain, the gunner took their places,
and so plied the two Danes, that they were glad to sheer
off. The English anchored within a mile of them during
the night to repair damages. The next morning they
expected the Danes again, but though they were to wind-
ward and had the advantage of the current, yet they would
not venture — upon which the English, after having saluted
them with a shot of defiance, bore away for England.

A squadron under Sir Edward Spragg was sent out to
punish the Algerines for their piracies. He drove many
of their ships on shore and burnt seven, each carrying
thirty-four guns. In the same year, 1670, the captain and
first lieutenant of the Sapphire were condemned to be

PRINCE RUPERT'S ENGAGEMENT WITH DE RUYTER. 133

shot for cowardice, having run from four sail which they
supposed to be Turkish men-of-war, and also for getting
the ship on shore, by which she was lost, contrary to the
opinion of the master and crew, who offered to defend her.
The sentence was executed on board the Dragon at
Deptford.

The peace of Breda terminated for a time the contest
with the Dutch. War was, however, soon again to break
out. The statesmen Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arling-
ton, and Lauderdale, the initial letters of whose titles gave
the name of the Cabal to their ministry, now formed a
scheme for rendering the king absolute ; Charles, acting
under the influence of the King of France, who agreed to
assist England in humbling the States-General. Every
slight offence committed by the Dutch was magnified into
a sufficient reason for engaging in a fresh war with the
States, till it at last broke out with great violence. The
English had formed an alliance with the French, when
their united fleets, under the command of Prmce Rupert —
the English having sixty men-of-war and frigates and the
French thirty — encountered the Dutch under De Ruyter,
who had about seventy ships. De Ruyter bearing down
with his fleet in three squadrons prepared to attack the
Prince himself, while Tromp engaged Spragg and the Blue
Squadron, the English admiral having, contrary to the
express orders of Prince Rupert, laid his fore-topsail to the
mast in order to stay for him. The French admiral had
received orders to keep aloof, which he in part obeyed,
while owing to Spragg's too daring conduct Prince Rupert
found himself separated from a large portion of his fleet.
The fiercest engagement was that between Tromp, in the
Golden Lion, and Spragg, in the Royal Prince. For long
they fought ship to ship, till the Royal Prince was so
disabled, that Sir Edward Spragg was forced to go on
board the St. George, and Tromp quitted his Golden Lion
to hoist his flag on board the Comat, when the battle was
renewed with incredible fury. The aim of the Dutch
admiral was to take or sink the Royal Prince, but the
Earl of Ossory and Sir John Kempthorne, together with
Spragg himself, so effectually protected the disabled vessel.

134 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

that none of the enemy's fire-ships could come near her,
though this was often attempted. At last the St. George,
being terribly torn and in a manner disabled, Sir Edward
Spragg designed to go on board a third ship, but before he
was got six boats' length a shot, which passed through the St.
George, struck his boat, and, though her crew immediately
rowed back, yet before they could get within reach of the
ropes the boat sank, and Sir Edward was drowned. The
fight continued till sunset, when darkness and smoke
obliged them on all sides to desist, the English having all
this time maintained the fight alone against the whole
Dutch fleet, while the French continued to look on at a
distance.

The English could not claim this action as a victory, for
though the Dutch carried off no trophies, they had de-
cidedly the best of it. The English officers, however,
behaved with the greatest gallantry, and had they not been
so shamefully deserted by their pretended allies, would
have won the day. Prince Rupert highly praised the con-
duct of the Earl of Ossory for the way in which he bore
down to the rescue of the Royal Prince. Sir John
Chichely and Sir John Kempenthorne, as did many others,
behaved with conspicuous courage, while several com-
manders of distinction lost their lives. The conduct of
the gunner of the Royal Prince, Richard Lcake — whose
son became the famous Sir John Leake — is worthy of
mention. Before Sir Edward Spragg quitted the ship,
she had lost all her masts, the larger number of her upper
deck guns were disabled, and 400 of her crew, out of 750,
were killed or wounded. While in this disabled condition,
a large Dutchman, with two fire-ships, bore down on her
for the purpose of effecting her capture or destruction.
The lieutenant who had been left in command, believing
that it was hopeless to resist, was on the point of striking,
when the gallant Leake, calling on the crew to support
him, took the command, and so ably fought the remaining
guns that both the fire-ships were sunk, his large assailant
compelled to sheer off, and the ship preserved from capture.

The nation, discovering that England had become the
mere tool of France, loudly cried out for peace with Holland,

CABIN-BOYS. 135

which was signed in London on the 9th of February, 1674.
By this treaty it was agreed on the part of the Dutch that
their ships, whether separate or in fleets, should be obliged,
as a matter of right, to strike their sails to any fleet or
single ship carrying the King of England's flag.

Very considerable improvements were carried out in the
naval service during Charles the Second's reign by the
influence of the Duke of York. In 1G62 a judge-advocate,
John Fowler, was first appointed to the fleet. In 1663 an
established number of seamen was fixed to each ship of
war according to her rate, and servants were at this time
first allowed to the captains and officers. Under this
rating it was usual for officers to take a certain number of
young gentlemen to sea, who, in consequence, gained the
name of midshipmen. They are often spoken of as cap-
tains' servants or cabin-boys, signifying that they were
berthed and messed in the cabin — not that they had of
necessity menial duties to perform. An allowance of table-
money was first established to the flag-officers ; a surgeon-
general to the fleet was also first appointed by warrant
from the Lord High Admiral.

In 1666, in addition to the complement of men borne
on board a ship bearing the flag ot an admiral, fifty men
were allowed ; to a vice-admiral, twenty ; and to a rear-
admiral, ten.

We have the first instance in this year of gratuities
being allowed to captains in the navy who were wounded
in battle.

From the instances already given, it will be seen that
the naval officers of those days possessed a dashing,
dauntless courage which no dangers could subdue. The
following is one among many others. The Tiger frigate,
commanded by Captain Harman, was lying in the Port of
Cadiz at the same time that a Dutch squadron was there.
Do Witt, the captain of one of the Dutch frigates, was
particularly friendly with Captain Harman ; this made
the Spaniards insinuate that he dared not fight the Eng-
lish frigate. Evertzen, the Dutch admiral, on hearing this
report, told De Witt that he must challenge the English
captain to go to sea and fight him, to support the honour

130 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of his nation, and that he would assist him with sixty
seamen and seventy soldiers. Captain Harman readily
accepted his proposal, and on a day fixed both ships stood
to sea, and began to engage within pistol-shot of each
other. In a short time the Dutch ship's mainmast was
shot away. Captain Harman, availing himself of the
confusion into which this disaster had thrown the enemy,
boarded and compelled her to surrender, with the loss
of 140 men. The English had only nine killed and fifteen
wounded.

Since the increase of the navy, the Cinque Ports being
of less consequence than formerly, the king granted them
a new charter confirming their ancient privileges, with the
addition of some regulations more suitable to modern times.

As an encouragement for seamen to enter into the navy,
a bounty was given to all who entered on board first and
second rates of six weeks' pay, and on board of third rates
one month's pay.

In 1673 an order was issued to all commanders of His
Majesty's ships of war that in future they were not to
require French ships to strike the flag or topsail, or salute,
neither were they to salute those of the French king.

In 1673 the oaths of allegiance and supremacy were
first administered to the officers in His Majesty's navy.
The king granted half-pay to several captains in the navy,
according to the rates they commanded, as a gratuity for
their bravery during the war.

The regulating and allotting of cabins to each particular
officer was first established.

For some years merchant- ships had been sheathed with
lead, and the experiment was now tried on the Harwich
and Kingfisher ships of war, as also on several other ships
ordered for foreign service. The practice was, however,
in a few years discontinued.

The Royal Navy was now becoming far larger than it
had ever before been. In 1675 the Parliament granted
£300,000 for the building of twenty large ships of war,
one first-rate of 1400 tons, eight second-rates of 1100 tons,
and eleven third-rates of 700 tons. At the same time the
tonnage and poundage money was applied to the benefit

ATTACK ON TRIPOLI. 137

of the Royal Navy. The Newfoundland fishery had begun
to assume considerable importance, it being considered
especially useful as a nursery to furnish seamen for the
Royal Navy. Thus in the year 1676, 102 ships were
employed, each ship carrying 20 guns, IS boats, and 5 men
to each boat, making in all 9180 men.

The corsairs which sailed forth from the States of Tunis,
Tripoli, and Algiers, continuing their depredations on Eng-
lish merchant-ships, Sir John Narborough was in 1675
despatched with a powerful squadron to teach them better
behaviour. On arriving off Tripoli Sir John sent Lieu-
tenant Cloudesly Shovel, of whom we now first hear, to
open negotiations with the Dey. That Oriental potentate,
despising Mr. Shovel for his youthful appearance, sent him
back with a disrespectful answer. He had, however, made
a note of everything he saw, and on returning on board he
assured the commodore of the practicability of burning the
piratical fleet. The night being extremely dark, the com-
modore despatched Lieutenant Shovel with all the boats
of the fleet to destroy the ships in the mole. Lieutenant
Shovel first seized the guard-boat, then entered the mole,
and burnt four large armed ships, without losing a man.
The Dey, terrified by these unexpected proceedings of the
English, sued for peace ; but, according to time-honoured
eastern custom, delayed the fulfilment of his engagements,
on which Sir John sailing in, cannonaded the town, landed
a party of men, burnt some stores, and finally brought him
to terms. One of the pirate ships carried 50 guns, one 30,
one 24, and another 20 guns. These powerful rovers were
indeed a match for any ordinary merchant-vessel, and
often contended desperately with men-of-war. In 1677
the 26-gun ship Guernsey, Captain James Harman, fell
in with one of them, an Algerine called the White
Horse, carrying 50 guns, and 500 men, while the crew
of the Guernsey numbered only 110. A fierce action
ensued, when at length the Algerine, taking advantage of
the Guernsey's disabled state, sheered off, these pirates
always fighting for booty rather than for honour. The
gallant Captain Harman received three musket-balls in
his body, and a severe contusion from a cannon-shot. He

138 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

still fought his ship till he sank from exhaustion, when
Lieutenant John Harris took command. The Guernsey
in the action lost nine killed and many wounded, besides
the captain, who three days afterwards expired.

A still more successful action was fought between the
40-gun ship Adventure, Captain William Booth, and an
Algerine ship of war called the Golden Horse, of 46 guns,
commanded by Morat Rais, a notorious Dutch renegade,
who had a crew of 508 Moors and 90 Christian slaves.
During the action a stranger hove in sight under Turkish
colours ; but night coming on, the Algerine drew off, when
Captain Booth, having a fire-ship in company, gave orders
to burn her or the new-comer. Fortunately, the fire-ship
failed to reach either one or other, and in the morning the
stranger hoisted English colours, and proved to be the
40-gun ship Nonsuch. The Golden Horse being dis-
masted, and 109 of her crew killed and 120 wounded, and
Having six feet of water in the hold, surrendered.

In the same year a 42-gun ship, Captain Morgan Kemp-
thorne, beat off seven Algerine corsairs, after they had made
several desperate attempts to board her. Unhappily the
Captain and eight of his crew were killed, and 38 wounded.

Many other similar gallant actions were fought with the
Algerines and Sallee rovers, who, however, notwithstanding
their frequent defeats, continued their depredations on the
commerce of England and other European countries. Tan-
giers had been in possession of the English about twenty
years, but, to save the expense of keeping it up, a fleet
under Lord Dartmouth was sent out to destroy all the
works, and to bring home the garrison. The destruction
of the mole, which was admirably built, caused much labour,
it being necessary to blow it up by piecemeal. Its ruins,
as well as the rubbish of the town, were thrown into the
harbour to prevent its again becoming a port.

The navy had long been held in high estimation by the
English, who were always ready to grant any sum required
for its improvement. It is stated that between the years
1660 and 1670 never less than £5000 a-year was granted
for its support. On the death of Charles the Royal Navy
amounted to 113 sail.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVY UNDER JAMES II. 139

3Iame0 tf)e

James, on his accession, assigned a stated sum of
£400,000 a-year, to be paid quarterly from the treasury, for
the service of the navy. Four additional commissioners
were also appointed for the better regulating of the docks
and naval storehouses, and for the more speedy repairs of
ships of war. During this time a plan was proposed and
patent granted for making salt water fresh by distillation.
All captains and officers received orders to despatch perfect
copies of their journals to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
An increased allowance of table-money was granted in
lieu of several perquisites and advantages they had before
enjoyed.

The larger number of the officers and men of the navy
were sound Protestants, who regarded the proceedings of
James with jealous eyes ; and thus, notwithstanding his
magnificent fleet, Lord Dartmouth could only muster 17
sail of the line, chiefly third and fourth rates, 3 frigates,
13 fire-ships, and 3 yachts to oppose the landing of the
Prince of Orange.

On the 12th of December, 1688, James the Second
finished his short reign by abdicating the throne, at which
time the navy consisted of 173 sail, showing that lie must
have either built or purchased sixty ships.

ittfo 0f

CHAPTER X.
Affairs iit Charles flat Seomtr's

(FROM A.D. 1660 TO A.D. 1689.)

HEN great guns or cannon came into use, the old
style of fighting at sea was completely changed.
We hear of them as early as the thirteenth
century, employed in a naval engagement be-
tween the King of Tunis and the Moorish
King of Seville. They were first used on shore by the
English at the battle of Crescy, fought in 1346, and at sea
by the Venetians about the year 1380. In the reigns of
Richard the Third and Henry the Seventh they were first
employed by the English at sea. They were not then,
however, as now, pointed through port-holes, but were
mounted so as to fire over the bulwarks of the vessel. In
those days, therefore, ships of war could have had but one
armed deck, and were probably urged by oars as well as
by sails. Port-holes were invented by Descharves, a French
builder at Brest, and the first English ship in which they
were formed was the Henry Grace de Dieu, built at Erith
in 1515. She was said to have been of no less than 1000 tons
burden, but as we are ignorant of the mode in which ships
were measured for tonnage in those days, we cannot tell her
actual burden. She must, however, have been a large vessel,
for she had two whole decks, besides what we now call a
forecastle and poop. She mounted altogether eighty pieces,
composed of every calibre in use; but of these not more than
fifty-four, according to the print before us, were pointed
140

ARMAMENT OP SHIPS. 141

through broadside ports. The rest were either mounted
as bow or stern chasers, or as " murdering pieces," as they
were called, which pointed down on the deck; their object
apparently being, should a ship be boarded, to fire on the
enemy. The calibre of great guns was not in those days
designated by the weight of the shot they discharged.
This was probably from the reason that the balls were not
all made of the same materials. At first they were of stone;
then those of iron were introduced ; and sometimes they
were formed of lead ; and, at an early period, hollow iron
shot, filled with combustible matter, were brought into use.
Thus the weight of shot fluctuated too much to serve for
the classification of the gun from which it was fired. Ships'
guns in those days were known as cannon, cannon royal,
cannon serpentine, bastard cannon, demi-cannon, and can-
non petro.

The Sovereign of the Seas was built at Woolwich Dock-
yard, in 1637, by Mr. Phineas Pett, and Mr. Thomas Hay-
wood was the designer of her decorations. She measured,
probably, about 1500 tons. He describes her as having
three flush decks and a forecastle, one half-deck, a quarter-
deck, and a round house. Her lower tier had 30 ports
which were furnished with demi-cannon and whole cannon
throughout ; her middle tier had also 30 ports of demi-
culverins and whole culverins ; her third tier had 36 ports
for other ordnance; her forecastle had 12 ports; and her
half-deck 13 ports. She had 13 or 14 ports more within-
board for murdering pieces, besides a great many loop-holes
out of the cabins for musket-shot. She carried, moreover,
10 pieces of chase ordnance forward and 10 right aft. This
first-rate of the seventeenth century would thus have had
126 guns ; in reality, however, these ports right forward
and right aft, as well as those on the forecastle, had no
guns, and thus she actually carried only 100.

About the middle of the seventeenth century the ships of
the British Navy ceased to carry guns of a similar calibre on
the same deck. At the same time the cumbrous forecastles
and after-castles, which must have been equally incon-
venient both in action and in a sea way, were removed.
The murdering pieces were likewise got rid of, and at the

142 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

same time, an English ship of war could fire from her
broadside half the number of guns she carried.

In 1546 Henry the Eighth possessed fifty-eight ships,
which were classed according to their quality ; thus there
were shyppes, galliasses, pinnaces, and row-barges. The galli-
asse was somewhat like the lugger or felucca of modern days.
She probably was a long, low, and sharp-built vessel, pro-
pelled by oars as well as sails — the latter not fixed to a
standing yard, but hoisted like a boat's sail when required.
The pinnace was a small kind of galliasse.

In 1612 we find a list in which the vessels of the Royal
Navy were classed as ships-royal, which measured from
800 to 1200 tons, middling ships from 600 to 800 tons,
small ships from 350 tons, and pinnaces from 80 to 250
tons, divided into rates. They were six in number, and
each rate consisted of two classes, to which different com-
plements of men were assigned. We are not told what
were the armaments of the classes. The division into rates
was adopted to regulate the pay of the officers and seamen,
as is the case at the present day.

In 1651-2, we find a list of all ships, frigates, and other
vessels belonging to the States' Navy classified by the guns
they carried. Of these there were twenty-three classes
comprised within the second-rates, exclusive of two unrated
classes — namely, hulks and shallops or row-barges. The
former were used either to lodge the officers and crews of
vessels undergoing repair, or were fitted with shears to
erect or remove masts. In the course of a few years after
this, sloops, bombs, fire-ships, and yachts are spoken of as
among the unrated classes ; but in the sixth-rate were
comprised vessels mounting only two guns. Towards the
end of the century such small craft were classed by them-
selves as sloops.

In 1675 fire-ships first appear in a list of the navy.
They were much used at that time for the purpose of setting
fire to the enemy's vessels. Mr. Pepys, who is the chief
authority on naval affairs at this period, says that the
Dutch, in the year 1660, made a present of a yacht, called
Maria, to Charles the Second, remarking, "until which
time we had not heard of such a name in England."

REGULAR RATING OF SHIPS ESTABLISHED. 143

About the year 1650 a difference was made between the
number of guns and men carried by ships in war time and
in peace time, and in war and peace abroad. This differ-
ence, it is evident, arose from the inability of a ship to
carry a sufficient amount of provisions for her crew when
sent on a long voyage. When such was the case it was
necessary to reduce both the number of men and guns, in
order to allow room for a sufficient supply of provisions.
As far as we can j udge, a first-rate of the latter end of the
seventeenth century mounted her guns on three whole
decks, a quarter-deck, forecastle, and poop; a second-rate
mounted hers on three whole decks and a quarter-deck ; a
third-rate on two whole decks, a quarter-deck, forecastle,
and poop ; a fourth-rate on two whole decks and a quarter-
deck ; a fifth-rate on her first gun-deck, with a few guns
on her quarter-deck ; a sixth-rate on a single deck, with
or without any on her quarter-deck.

There were at that period three-deckers of sixty-four
guns, and two-deckers of only thirty guns. With regard
to the guns themselves, the demi-cannon was probably
a 32-pounder, the cannon petro a 24-pounder, and the
basilisk a 12-pounder; the whole culverin an 18-pounder,
and the demi-culverm a 9-pounder ; the saker a 0-pounder,
and the mignon a 4-pounder. The smaller guns were
called swivels, and were mounted on upright timbers, having
a pivot on which the gun traversed. Guns at sea were
formerly known by the names of beasts and birds of prey,
till about the year 1G85 they were designated by the
weight of the shot they carried.

In 1688 we find mention made of bombs, which were
vessels carrying six or eight light guns, and one or two
heavy mortars for the purpose of throwing shells into a
town. It is said that they were invented by Reynaud, a
Frenchman, and that they were first employed at the bom-
bardment of Algiers in 1681.

In the year 1714 we find the navy divided into ten
classes, ships carrying 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20,
and 10 guns. The first-rate descended no lower than to
ships carrying 100 guns ; the second no lower than to
those of 90 guns ; the third admitted all classes below 90

144 fOPtJLAE HISTORY OF THE fcRITlsH

and above 60 ; the fourth between GO and 50 ; the fifth
between 50 and 30 ; the sixth comprised all vessels below
30, except sloops, bombs, &c.

By the end of the reign of George the First, ships no
longer carried guns on their poops.

The English style of naming the decks of a ship differs
from that of other nations, and though perfectly understood
by her crew, is calculated to puzzle a landsman. In a
one-decked ship the deck on which the guns are carried
is called the main-deck, while the deck below it, to which
there are no ports, the lower or gun-deck. Hence the
term gun-room, occupied by lieutenants or gun-room
officers ; indeed, the lowest deck of every ship is called the
gun-deck. The quarter of a ship is that part of the side
which lies towards the stern, and hence that part of the
deck is called the quarter-deck, in reference to that portion
of the ship's length over which it originally extended.
The elevation above it is known as the poop, and the
raised deck over the fore-part of the ship is known as the
top-gallant forecastle. In early days, as we have seen in
the case of the Great Harry and other ships, and even in
later days, both at the fore and after part of the ship there
were elevated structures, very properly called castles. In
time these were done away with, but short decks elevated
above the main or chief deck were still retained, as it was
found inconvenient for the seamen when working the ship
to descend from one of these elevated decks and then to be
compelled to mount the other to get either fore or aft.
They were connected by a grating or gangway of sufficient
width to allow the crew to pass backwards and forwards.
This gangway was still further widened ; it being strength-
ened by beams running across the ship, allowed guns to
be carried on it. The after- part had long been called the
quarter-deck, and the fore-part the forecastle, while the
intermediate part was now known as the gangway. This
name was also applied to the space left in the bulwarks
for entering or leaving the ship. These portions of the
decks now assumed the appearance of an entire even deck
running fore and aft, but it still retained the names origi-
nally bestowed on it, and its imaginary divisions. The

NAMES OF SHIP'S DECKS. 145

centre part of the ship, where the gangway is placed, is
also commonly called the waist, because originally there
was no deck. The deck immediately below this once-
divided deck is always called the main-deck. In a three-
decker the next is called the middle-deck, and the lowest
deck on which guns are carried the lower-deck. Below
this again is one still lower deck called the orlop-deck.
A two-decked ship has no middle-deck, but possesses only
a main and lower deck, besides the before-mentioned
quarter-deck, gangway, and forecastle. The deck on which
a frigate's single battery is carried is always called her
main-deck, because the sailors are wont to denominate the
upper-deck of every ship carrying guns the main-deck.
In a sloop-ship or corvette the only deck, without any one
above it on which guns are carried, is thus invariably called
the main-deck, and, as has before been said, the one beneath
it on which the officers and crew live, and which has no
guns, the gun-deck. Ships which have their only gun-
deck running fore and aft for the same height all along are
called flush-decked ships. When the after-part of the
deck is raised they are known as being deep-waisted, as
is the case with many merchantmen. The highest deck of
many men-of-war of all rates is often perfectly level, but
others have a short raised deck, extending from just before
the mizenmast to the stern, which is called the poop, and
in many instances serves as a cover to the captain's cabin.
When the admiral is on board he occupies the after-cabins
on the upper-deck. In small men-of-war no cabins are
placed under the poop, nor are they ever under the top-
gallant forecastle. On board merchantmen, however, where
the poop is of sufficient elevation and extent to allow of it,
the -best cabins are always placed under it, while the crew
are almost invariably berthed under the top-gallant fore-
castle. Of course, speaking of men-of-war, we are referring
to ships as they were till the invention of low-sided armour-
plated craft, which necessitated a great, if not an entire,
change of terms, and the introduction of a considerable
number of new ones.

Line of battle ships, as their name implies, were such as
were capable from their size, strength, and the number of

146 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

their guns, of entering into the line of battle and contend-
ing with the largest ships of the enemy. We first hear of
ships appearing in that character in 1691, forming the
British Channel Fleet under Admiral Russell. As far back,
however, as the year 1614, in a list of the ships of the
navy, the line of battle ships are separated from the others.
They included all ships from the first-rate to the fourth-
rate. A fleet was now attended by smaller, swift vessels,
whose duty it was to look out for the enemy, and to per-
form other detached services. These vessels were com-
prised in the fifth and sixth rates, and from an early period
were denominated frigates. In early days a large number
of fast-sailing or fast-rowing vessels, whether intended for
war or for carrying merchandise, were called frigates.
The word friggot or frigat, as it was often written, derives
its origin from a class of long, sharp vessels used in the
Mediterranean, and impelled either by sails or oars, which
had a deck, the topside of which was higher than that of
the galley. It in general had openings like port-holes,
through which the oars passed. An Italian describes the
fregata as a little vessel with oars, but whence that name
is derived is uncertain. A species of swift-flying sea-gull
is called by the French a fregate. We have also the
frigate-bird; but the name is generally supposed to be
derived from the ship, which, however, may not really be
the case. It is very clear that its principal quality was the
power of moving rapidly either with sails or oars. The
French transferred the fregate of the Mediterranean to the
northern shore of their country, and constructed it with
bluffer bows and of a large size, to contend with the heavy
seas of a northern region. English merchant-ships of the
early part of the sixteenth century are frequently spoken of
as frigates, and in the latter part of the century were often,
as we have seen, hired by the sovereign to serve as ships
of war. As we know from the accounts we have already
given of the early voyages, some of their ships were
denominated frigates. Thus, one of the ships serving with
Sir Francis Drake is called the frigate Elizabeth Fownes, of
80 guns and 50 men. The Duke of Northumberland,
then Sir Robert Dudley, towards the close of the sixteenth

ORIGIN OF THE FRIGATE. 147

century, designed a ship to measure 160 feet in length
and 24 in breadth, and constructed to carry a tier of guns
on a single whole deck, besides other guns on two short
decks, resembling the poop and top-gallant forecastle of a
modern ship. He named his vessel a fregata, and her
guns were placed exactly as those of a modern frigate.

He designed at the same time seven distinct classes of
ships of war, which he named the Galleon, Rambargo,
Galizabra, Frigata, Gallerone, Gallerata, and Passavo-
lante. His designs not being accepted, he, in the year
1594, built a vessel for himself at Southampton, which
measured 300 tons and mounted 30 guns — of course, of
small calibre. In her he made a voyage to India.

Charles the First possessed two frigates, the Simn and
Nicodemiw, each of 60 tons, 10 men, and 3 guns. They
probably were only used as yachts. The Duke of Buck-
ingham, who was Lord High Admiral from 1019 to 1686,
ordered some frigates to be built from the model of two
called the Providence and Expedition, captured from the
Dunkirkers, mounting, it is supposed, from 20 to 30 guns,
the greater number of which were on a single deck. In
consequence of seeing a French frigate in the Thames, Mr.
Peter Pett took her as his model for building the Constant
Warwick in 1649, which was, as he says, the first freagat
built in England. She was intended as a privateer for the
Earl of Warwick, who afterwards sold her to the king.
She measured somewhat under 400 tons, and mounted
60 guns, consisting of 18 light demi-culverins or short
9-pounders on the main-deck, 6 light sakers on the quarter-
deck, and 2 mignons on the after-raised deck, which we
should now call the poop.

In those days, and for many years afterwards, the English
were addicted to crowding their vessels with guns, and
there can be no doubt that many, like the Mary Rose and
others, were in consequence lost ; especially as their lower-
deck ports were often not more than three feet above the
water. The Constant Wariuick had afterwards many
more guns placed in her, so that she ultimately rated as a
46-gun ship, when, from being an incomparable sailer, she
became a slug. Mr. Pcpys remarks on this subject, in

148 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

1663 and 1664: "The Dutch and French built ships of
two decks, which carried from 60 to 70 guns, and so con-
trived that they carried their lower guns four feet from the
water, and could stow four months' provisions — whereas our
frigates from the Dunkirk build, which were narrower and
sharper, carried their guns but little more than three feet
from the water and but ten weeks provisions."

Attempts were made to counteract this great defect,
but without much success. For several years afterwards
Mr. Pepys still complained that frigates were unable to
stow a sufficient quantity of provisions, or to carry their
guns high enough out of the water to make them safe.

Up to the early part of the eighteenth century it was a
general complaint that ships of war had more guns placed
on board than they could carry — in consequence, that their
lower batteries could not be opened when there was any
sea on, and that they sailed and worked heavily. It is
wonderful, indeed, how British seamen managed to keep
them afloat, as it is worthy of note that those which fell
into the hands of the enemy were nearly always lost under
charge of their new masters. The English, it was said,
employed the best materials and workmanship on their
vessels, but the French greatly surpassed them in their
models. The English were the first to abandon the flat
form of the stern under the counter, and to introduce the
curved instead, by which greater strength and lightness as
well as beauty was obtained.

In 1748 a ship of 585 tons, to carry 28 guns, 9-pounders
on the main-deck and 3-potmders on the quarter-deck, was
built ; and in 1757 five other vessels, also called frigates,
to carry 28 guns, were constructed of fir instead of oak, of
the same size; but one of them was captured by the
French, and the others in about nine years were broken up
as unserviceable.

The first ship which, according to our present ideas,
could properly be considered a frigate, was the Southamp-
ton, built at Rotherhithe in the year 1757 by Mr. Robert
Inwood, according to a draft of Sir Thomas Slade, one of
the surveyors of the navy. She measured 671 tons, and
mounted 26 12-pounders on the main-deck, 4 6-pounders

TRUE FRIGATES FIRST BUILT. 149

on the quarter-deck, and 2 6-pounders on the forecastle.
She thus carried all her guns on a single whole deck, a
quarter-deck and forecastle, the characteristic of the true
frigate. She was considered a prime sailer and first-rate
sea-boat, and lasted for fifty-six years, and possibly would
have lasted longer had she not gone to pieces on the rocks.

Shortly after this several 36-gun frigates were built.
Each was about fifty tons larger than the Southampton, and
carried four guns more, which were placed on the quarter-
deck.

Several French 36-gun frigates captured by the English
were found to be considerably larger. One, the Dana, was
of 941 tons; and three French 32-gun frigates averaged
about 700 tons, though armed like the Southampton.

About 1779 five frigates of 38 guns, and averaging 946
tons, were launched. They were the Minerva, built at
Woolwich, the Arethusa, Latona, Phaeton, and Thetis.
They were first armed with 28 18-pounders on the main-
deck and 10 6-pounders, 8 18-pound carronades and 14
swivels on the quarter-deck and forecastle, and with a
complement of 270 men. Shortly afterwards the comple-
ment was increased to 280 men, 9-pounders were placed
on board instead of the sixes, the swivels were omitted,
and carronades substituted.

About the same time frigates of 880 tons, to carry 36
guns, 18 and 9-pounders, were built.

Formerly, as has been seen, a number of small vessels
were classed as frigates. About the year 1775 they were
placed in a different rate, and those carrying 20 guns had
now the name of 20-gun post-ships given to them, signify-
ing that they were commanded by post-captains. After-
wards vessels still called frigates, carrying 24 guns, were
also ranked as post-ships. The French called vessels of
this size corvettes, from the Italian word corvettore, to leap
or bound, from which we have derived the word curvet.
The French afterwards applied the name to ships of 24
guns. In order to mount all these guns on a single tier, it
was necessary to increase the dimensions of the ship, and
thus she could carry heavier metal than those ships
mounting their guns on a quarter-deck and forecastle.

150 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The English, following their example, afterwards called all
ships carrying 24, 22, and 20 guns post-ships, and those
carrying 18, 1C, and 14, or any less number, ship-sloops,
to which the general term of corvette was afterwards
applied. The English did not apply the term corvette to
brigs, but designated such two-masted vessels as brigs-of-
war, though they are sometimes spoken of as brig-sloops.

It wifl thus be understood that a ship that mounts 24
guns at least on a single-deck, and other guns on a quarter-
deck and forecastle, is properly called a frigate. When,
however, the waist is decked over and has raised bulwarks
with ports in them filled with guns, the vessel becomes a
two-decked ship.

It is necessary to explain the term "flush." In sea
language it means level, a flush-deck is consequently a
level deck extending fore and aft. Such are all the decks
of a man-of-war, except of the upper ones. Many merchant-
men are also built in the same way, but others rise abruptly
a foot, or two or three feet, towards the stern, the higher
part of the deck becoming the quarter-deck. Ships thus
built are spoken of as deep-waisted, because the centre-
part is deeper or lower than the after-part. The bulwarks
in the same way sink in proportion at the break of the
quarter-deck. Up to the present day many of the largest
ships-of-war are flush-decked, as are all brigs-of-war and
many corvettes, but a frigate, which must have a quarter-
deck and forecastle, cannot properly be said to be flush-
decked, although, in fact, the gratings or gangway at the
waist give her the appearance of being so to the unsophis-
ticated eye.

Our knowledge of the state of the navy during the
reigns of Charles the Second and his brother is derived
chiefly from Mr. Samuel Pepys, who was clerk of the Acts,
through the interest of his relative the Earl of Sandwich,
and was ultimately clerk of the treasurer to the com-
missioners of the affairs of Tangier, and surveyor-general
of the victualling department He spared no pains to
check the rapacity of contractors by whom the naval
stores were then supplied ; he studied order and economy
in the dockyards, advocated the promotion of old-established

DIARY OP SAMUEL PEPYS. 151

officers in the navy, and resisted to the utmost the infamous
system of selling places, then most unblushingly practised.
During the Dutch war the care of the navy in a great
measure rested upon him alone, and by his zeal and industry
he gained the esteem of the Duke of York, with whom, as
Lord High Admiral, he was in constant intercourse. Thus
from his diary we can gain a pretty accurate knowledge of
the customs of the times in the naval service, and the way
the affairs of the navy were managed.

In an entry of the 4th of June, 16C1, he describes a
dinner, where the discourse was on the subject of young
noblemen and gentlemen who thought of going to sea, the
naval service being considered as noble as that of the land.
Lord Crewe remarked that " in Queen Elizabeth's time one
young nobleman would wait with a trencher at the back
of another till he come of age himself ; " and he mentioned
the Earl of Kent, who was waiting on Lord Bedford at
table when a letter came to that lord announcing that the
earldom had fallen to his servant the young lord ; at which
he rose from table and made him sit down in his place,
taking a lower for himself.

It was undoubtedly in this way that many lads of family
went to sea to serve as cabin-boys to captains of distinction,
and at the same time to learn seamanship and navigation.

He gives an amusing account of the sale of two ships at
an auction by an inch of candle. The auctioneer put them
up when the candle was first lighted, and bidding went on
till it was burnt down. He describes " how they do invite
one another, and at last how they all do cry, and we have
much to do to tell who did cry last. The ships were the
Indian, sold for £1300, and the Half-Moone, sold for
£830." Of course, the ships were knocked down to the
person who made the last bidding before the candle was
burnt out.

It is no wonder that naval affairs went wrong in those
days, when money was wanting to pay both officers and
seamen, and to supply stores and provisions ; indeed, what
should have been devoted to the purpose was fearfully
misappropriated. On the 14th of August, 1661, he says :
"This morning Sir W. Batten and Sir W. Perm and I

152 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

waited upon the Duke of York in his chamber, to give him
an account of the condition of the navy for lack of money,
and how our own very bills are offered upon the exchange
to be sold at 20 in the 100 loss. He is much troubled at
it, and will speak to the king and council of it this morning."

The debts of the navy at that time amounted to near
£374.000. He tells us that he was "writing a little
treatise to present to the duke, about our privileges in the
seas, as to other nations striking their flags to us." The
English had long claimed the right to have this honour
paid to their flag, though the people of other countries
were naturally inclined to dispute it, and if not the cause
was the pretext of our wars with the Dutch.

On the 25th of January he met Sir Richard Brown, and
discussed with him Sir N. Crisp's project for "making a
great sluice in the king's lands about Deptford, to be a
wet-dock to hold 200 sail of ships. But the ground, it
seems, was long since given by the king to Sir Richard."

On the 14th of March the German Dr. Knuffler "came
to discourse about his engine to blow up ships. We doubted
not the matter of fact, it being tried in Cromwell's time,
but the safety of carrying them in ships ; but he do tell us
that when he comes to tell the king his secret (for none
but the kings successively and their heirs must know
it), it will appear to be of no danger at all. We concluded
nothing, but shall discourse with the Duke of York to-
morrow about it."

Chaplains were appointed in those days to ships, though
several instances are given which prove that they were not
men likely to advance the interests of religion. After
visiting the yard, he went on board the Swallow in the
dock, " where our navy chaplain preached a sad sermon,
full of nonsense and false Latin ; but prayed for the Right
Honorable the principall officers."

Again, he speaks of many rogueries practised. Among
others, on the 4th of June he went " by water to Woolwich,
and there saw an experiment made of Sir R. Ford's Holland's
yarne (about which we have lately had so much stir, and
I have much concerned myself for our ropemaker, Mr.
Hughes, who represented it so bad), and we found it to be

THREATENINGS OF WAR WITH DUTCH. 153

very bad, and broke sooner than upon a fair trial, five
threads of that against four of Riga yarne ; and also that
some of it had old stuffe that had been tarred, covered over
with new hempe, which is such a cheat as hath not been
heard of."

The war with the Dutch had not yet commenced, but
there was every probability of it soon breaking out, though
the English fleet was at that time in a sadly unprepared
state. On the 28th of June, 1662, he says : " Great talk
there is of a fear of a war with the Dutch, and we have
orders to pitch upon 20 ships to be forthwith set out ; but
I hope it is but a scarecrow to the world to let them see
that we can be ready for them ; though God knows, the
king is not able to set out five ships at this present with-
out great difficulty, we neither having money, credit,
nor stores."

With regard to the stores, he says, on the 21st of July :
"To Woolwich to the rope-yard, and there looked over
several sorts of hemp, and did fall upon my great survey
of seeing the working and experiments of the strength and
the charge in the dressing of every sort ; and I do think
have brought it to so great a certainty, as I have done the
king some service in it, and do purpose to get it ready
against the duke's coming to towne to present to him. I
see it is impossible for the king to have things done as
cheap as other men."

On the 4th of September he remarks, notwithstanding
all their shortcomings, that the fleet was in a far better
condition than in the days of Queen Elizabeth. "Sir
William Compton I heard talk with great pleasure of the
difference between the fleet now and in Queen Elizabeth's
days; where, in 1588, she had but 36 sail great and small
in the world, and ten rounds of powder was their allowance
at that time against the Spaniards."

He speaks of yachts as pleasure vessels, a name derived
from the Dutch, one of which class of vessels so called had
been presented by them to the late king. " By water to
Woolwich ; in my way saw the yacht lately built by our
virtuosos (my Lord Brunkard and others, with the help of
Commissioner Pett also), set out from Greenwich with the

154 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

little Dutch bezan to try for mastery ; and before they got
to Woolwich the Dutch beat them half-a-mile (and I
hear this afternoon that, in coming home, it got above
three miles), which all our people are glad of."

On the 18th of February, 1663, he says that he finds
"the true charge of the navy" to be "after the rate of
£374,743 a-year."

On the 14th of April Sir George Carteret tells him that
Parliament " will call all things in question ; and, above all,
the expenses of the navy;" "and into the truth of the
report of people being forced to sell their bills at 15 per
cent, losse in the navy."

On the 23rd of May Sir George says that Parliament
intend to report £200,000 per annum as the ordinary
charge of the navy.

The importance of having wet-docks in which ships
could be fitted out was well understood. He speaks of
finding certain creeks at Portsmouth, and mentions Com-
missioner Pett's design to form a wet-dock in St. Mary's
creek, " which can be done at no great charge, and yet no
little one ; he thinks, towards £10,000 ;" and that the place
is likely to be a very fit one when the king has money to
do it with.

He mentions a letter of Sir William Petty, " wherein
he says that his vessel, which he hath built upon two keels
(a model whereof, built for the king, he shewed me), hath
this month won a wager of £50, in sailing between Dublin
and Holyhead, with the pacquett-boat, the best ship or
vessel the king hath there ; and he offers to lay with any
vessel in the world. It is about 30 ton in burden, and
carries 30 men, with good accommodation (as much more
as any ship of her burden), and so any vessel of this figure
shall carry more men, with better accommodation by half,
than any other ship. This carries also ten guns of about
five tons weight. In their coming back from Holyhead they
started together, and this vessel came to Dublin by five at
night, and the pacquett-boat not before eight the next
morning ; and when they come they did believe that this
vessel had been drowned, or at least behind, not thinking
she could have lived in that sea." He concludes, " I only

FIRST NOTICE OF TORPEDOES. 155

affirm that the perfection of sailing lies in my principle,
find it out who can."

By his account we find that machines to perform the
same service as torpedoes were thought of in those days.
He tells " Dr. Allen," with whom he had " some good dis-
course about physick and chymistry, what Dribble, the
German Doctor, do offer of an instrument to sink ships ;
he tells me that which is more strange, that something
made of gold, which they call in chymistry durum fui-
minans, a grain, I think he said, of it, put into a silver
spoon and fired, will give a blow like a musquett, and
strike a hole through the silver spoon downward, without
the least force upward."

He gives an amusing account of a trial about the insur-
ance of a ship, before Lord Chief-Justice Hide. " It was
pleasant to see what mad sort of testimonys the seamen
did give, and could not be got to speak in order ; and then
their terms such as the judge could not understand ; and
to hear how sillily the counsel and judge would speak as
to the terms necessary in the matter, would make one
laugh ; and, above all, a Frenchman, that was forced to
speak in French, and took an English oath he did not
understand, and had an interpreter sworn to tell us what
he said, which was the best testimony of all."

On the 3rd of December, 1C63, he gives us the satisfac-
tory intelligence " that the navy (excepting what is due
to the yards upon the quarter now going on) is quite out
of debt ; which is extraordinary good news, and upon the
'Change, to hear how our credit goes as good as any
merchant's upon the 'Change is a joyfull thing to consider,
which God continue ! "

The next day he remarks, " The King of France, they
say, is hiring of 60 sail of ships of the Dutch, but it is not
said for what design."

On the 22nd of January he went down to Deptford,
" and there viewed Sir William Petty 's vessel; which hath
an odd appearance, but not such as people do make of it."

On the 4th of March he " saw several people trying a
new-fashion gun, brought by my Lord Peterborough this
morning, to shoot off often, one after another, without

156 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

trouble or danger." This must have been something of
the fashion of a revolver of the present day.

One of the first entries regarding the Dutch war is on
the 21st of November, 1644. " This day, for certain, news
is come that Teddiman hath brought in eighteen or twenty
Dutchmen, merchants, their Bourdeaux fleet, and two men-
of-war to Portsmouth. And I had letters this afternoon,
that three are brought into the Downes and Dover ; so
that the warr is begun : God give a good end to it ! "

On the 31st of December he says : " My Lord Sandwich
at sea with the fleet at Portsmouth, sending some about to
cruise for taking of ships, which we have done to a great
number."

On the llth of January, 1665: "This evening, by a letter
from Plymouth, I hear that two of our ships, the Leopard
and another, in the Straights, are lost by running aground ;
and that three more had like to have been so, but got off,
whereof Captain Allen one ; and that a Dutch fleet are
gone thither ; and if they should meet with our lame
ships, God knows what would become of them. This I
reckon most sad news ; God make us sensible of it ! "

The following remarks show the threatening attitude of
the Dutch : on the 12th of January, 1665, " Spoke with a
Frenchman, who was taken, but released, by a Dutch man-
of-war, of 36 guns (with seven more of the king's or greater
ships), off the North Foreland, by Margett. Which is a
strange attempt, that they should come to our teeth ; but,
the wind being easterly, the wind that should bring our
force from Portsmouth, will carry them away home."

On the 15th he was called in, with Sir William Penn, to
see the king, " And there Sir W. Penn spoke pretty well to
dissuade the king from letting the Turkish ships go out ;
saying (in short), the king having resolved to have 130
ships out by the spring, he must have above 20 of them
merchantmen. Towards which, he, in the whole river,
could find but 12 or 14, and of them the five ships taken
up by these merchants were a part, and so could not be
spared. That we should need 30,000 sailors to man these
130 ships, and of them, in service, we have not above
16,000 ; so that we shall need 14,000 more. That these

CAPTAIN ALLEN CAPTURES DUTCH MERCHANTMEN. 157

ships will, with their convoys, carry about 2000 men, and
those the best men that could be got ; it being the men
used to the southward that are the best men of warr,
though those bred in the north, among the colliers, are
good for labour. That it will not be safe for the merchants,
nor honourable for the king, to expose these rich ships
with his convoy of six ships to go, it not being enough to
secure them against the Dutch, who, without doubt, will
have a great fleet in the Straights."

At a visit of the Duke of York, he hears, by a letter from
Captain Allen, "First, of our own loss of two ships, the Phce-
nix and Nonsuch, in the Bay of Gibraltar ; then of his and
his seven ships with him, in the Bay of Gales, or thereabouts,
fighting with the 34 Dutch Smyrna fleet; sinking the King
Solomon, a ship worth £150,000, or more, some say £200,000,
and another; and taking of three merchant-ships. Two of
our ships were disabled by the Dutch unfortunately falling,
against their will, against them — the Advice, Captain W.
Poole, and Antelope, Captain Clerke. The Dutch men-of-
war did little service. Captain Allen, before he would fire one
gun, come within pistol-shot of the enemy. The Spaniards,
at Gales, did stand laughing at the Dutch, to see them run
away and flee to the shore, 34 or thereabouts, against eight
Englishmen at most." * Captain Allen led the way, and him-
self writes that all the masters of the fleet, old and young,
were mistaken, and did carry their ships aground." " Cap-
tain Seale, of the Milford, hath done his part very well, in
boarding the Kvng Solomon, which held out half-an-hour
after she was boarded ; and his men kept her an hour after
they did master her, and then she sank, and drowned about
17 of her men."

He speaks, a few days afterwards, of meeting the owners
of the double-bottomed boat the Experiment, which again
reminds us of the plan, at present adopted, to guard ships
against the effects of torpedoes.

On the 17th of April he heard an account of the capture
of three privateers, one of which was commanded by Admiral
Everson's son. Captain Golding, of the Diamond, was killed
in the action. " Two of them, one of 32, and the other of
20 odd guns, did stand stoutly up against her, which hath 46,

158 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and the Yarmouth that hath 52, and as many more men
as they. So that they did more than we could expect, not
yielding till many of their men were killed. And Everson,
when he was brought before the Duke of York, and was ob-
served to be shot through the hat, answered, that he wished
it had gone through his head, rather than been taken. One
thing more is written ; that two of our ships, the other day,
appearing upon the coast of Holland, they presently fired
their beacons round the country to give them notice. And
news is brought the king, that the Dutch Smyrna fleet is
seen upon the back of Scotland ; and, thereupon, the king
hath wrote to the duke, that he do appoint a fleet to go
to the northward to try to meet them coming home round;
which God send ! "

On the 28th he went down the river to visit the vict-
ualling ships, " where I find all out of order."

On the 8th of June he writes : " Victory over the
Dutch, June 3, 1665. This day they engaged, the Dutch
neglecting greatly the opportunity of the wind they had of
us,by which they lost the benefit of their fire-ships. TheEarl
of Falmouth, Muskerry, and Mr. Richard Boyle killed on
board the duke's ship, the Royall Charles, with one ghot,
their blood and brains flying in the duke's face, and the head
of Mr. Boyle striking down the duke, as some say. The Earle
of Marlborough, Portland, Rear-Admirall Sansum killed,
and Capt. Kerby and Ableson. Sir John Lawson wounded,
hath had some bones taken out, and is likely to be well
again. Upon receiving the hurt, he sent to the duke for
another to command the Royal Oake. The duke sent
Jordan out of the St. George, who did brave things in her.
Capt. Jer. Smith, of the Mary, was second to the duke,
and stepped between him and Captain Seaton, of the
Urania (76 guns and 400 men), who had sworn to board
the duke, killed him 200 men, and took the ship himself,
losing 99 men, and never an officer saved but himself and
lieutenant. His master, indeed, is saved, with his leg cut
off ; Admiral Opdam blown up, Trump killed, and said by
Holmes ; all the rest of their admiralls, as they say, but
Everson (whom they dare not trust for his affection to the
Prince of Orange), are killed, we having taken and sunk,

VICTORY OVER THE DUTCH, JUNE 3, 16C5. 159

as is believed, about 24 of their best ships, killed and
taken 8 or 10,000 men, and lost, we think, not above
700. A greater victory never known in the world. They
are all fled. Some 43 got into the Texell, and others
elsewhere, and we in pursuit of the rest."

On the 16th he goes down to Whitehall, and hears more
about the battle. " Among other things, how my Lord
Sandwich, both in his councils and personal service, hath
done most honourably and serviceably. Jonas Poolo, in
the Vanguard, did basely, so as to be, or will be, turned
out of his ship. Captain Holmes expecting upon Sansum's
death to be made rear-admirall to the prince (but Harman
is put in), hath delivered up to the duke his commission,
which the duke took and tore. Several of our captains
have done ill. The great ships are the ships to do the
business, they quite deadening the enemy. They run
away upon sight of the prince. Captain Smith, of the
Mary, the duke talks mightily of, and some great thing
will be done for him. Strange to hear how the Dutch do
relate, as the duke says, that they are the conquerors, and
bonfires are made in Dunkirke in their behalf, although a
clearer victory can never be expected. Mr. Coventry
thinks they cannot have lost less than 6000 men, and we
not dead above 200, and wounded about 400 ; in all about
600. Captain Grove, the duke told us this day, hath done
the basest thing at Lowestoffe, in hearing of the guns, and
could not (as others) be got out, but staid there, for which
he will be tried, and is reckoned a prating coxcombe, and
of no courage."

The fleet did not escape the plague, which was at that
time raging in London. On the 12th of August it
appeared at Deptford, on board the Providence fire-ship,
which was just fitting out to go to sea.

At Sheerness, a yard was in course of being laid out to
lay provisions for cleaning and repairing of ships, the most
proper place for the purpose.

On the 1 9th the fleet came home, " to our great grief,
with not above five weeks dry and six weeks wet provi-
sions, however, must go out again, and the duke hath
ordered the Soveraigne, and all other ships ready, to go out

160 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to the fleet and strengthen them. This news troubles us
all, but cannot be helped."

On the 9th of September, 1665, he meets Sir William
Doyly and Evelyn at supper : " And I with them full of
discourse of the neglect of our masters, the great officers of
state, about all business, and especially that of money,
having now some thousands prisoners kept to no purpose,
at a great charge, and no money provided almost for the
doing of it." " Captain Cocke reports as a certain truth
that all the Dutch fleet, men-of-war and merchant East
India ships, are got every one in from Bergen, the 3rd of
this month, Sunday last, which will make us all ridi-
culous."

On the 14th, however, he says : " A letter from my Lord
Sandwich at Solebay, of the fleet's meeting with about
eighteen more of the Dutch fleet, and his taking of most of
them ; and the messenger says, that they had taken three
after the letter was wrote and sealed, which being twenty-
one, and the fourteen took the other day, is forty-five sail,
some of which are good and others rich ships."

On the 18th he goes to Gravesend in the bezan yacht,
and " by break of day we come to within sight of the fleet,
which was a very fine thing to behold, being above 100
ships, great and small, with the flag-ships of each squadron
distinguished by their several flags on their main, fore, or
mizen masts. Among others, the Soveraigne, Charles,
and Prince, in the last of which my Lord Sandwich was.
And so we come on board, and we find my Lord Sandwich
newly up in his night-gown very well."

He attends a council of war on board, " When comes Sir
W. Penn, Sir Christopher Mingo, Sir Edward Spragg, Sir
Jos. Jordan, Sir Thomas Teddiman, and Sir Roger Cutt-
ance." Sir Christopher Mings was one of the bravest
admirals of the day. He was the son of a shoemaker, and
had worked his way up in the sea service. He was killed
the following year, June, 1666, in action with the Dutch.
Pepys describes him as " a very witty, well-spoken fellow,
and mighty free to tell his parentage, being a shoemaker's
son."

On the 25th of January, 1666, he writes ; " It is now

ILL-TREATMENT OF SEAMEN. 101

certain that the King of France hath publickly declared
war against us, and God knows how little fit we are
for it."

As an example of the way affairs were managed, he tells
us that, viewing the yard at Chatham, he observed,
" among other things, a team of four horses coming close
by us, drawing a piece of timber that I am eonfident one
man could easily have carried upon his back. I made the
horses be taken away, and a man or two to take the timber
away with their hands."

Still more abominable was the way in which the wages
of the unfortunate seamen were kept back. On the 7th
of October, 1665, he writes: "Did business, though not
much, at the office, because of the horrible crowd and
lamentable moan of the poor seamen that lie starving in
the streets for lack of money, which do trouble and perplex
me to the heart ; and more at noon, when we were to go
through them, for then above a whole hundred of them
followed us, some cursing, some swearing, and some pray-
ing to us." He continues : " Want of money in the navy
puts everything out of order ; men grown mutinous, and
nobody here to mind the business of the navy but myself."

On the 19th of May, 1666 : "Mr. Deane and I did dis-
course about his ship Rupert, built by him, which succeeds
so well as he hath got great honour by it, and I some by
recommending him — the king, duke, and everybody saying
it is the best ship that ever was built. Arid, then, he fell
to explain to me his manner of casting the draught of water
which a ship will draw beforehand, which is a secret the
king and all admire in him ; and he is the first that hath
.come to any certainty beforehand of foretelling the draught
of water of a ship before she be launched."

On the 4th he describes the fight between the English
and Dutch, the news brought by a Mr. Daniel, " who was
all muffled up, and his face as black as the chimney, and
covered with dirt, pitch, and tar, and powder, and muffled
with dirty clouts, and his right eye stopped with okum."
The English " found the Dutch fleet at anchor, between
Dunkirke and Ostend, and made them let slip their
anchors ; they about ninety and we less than sixty. We

162 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

fought them and put them to the run, till they met
with about sixteen sail of fresh ships, and so bore up
again. The fight continued till night, and then again
the next morning from five till seven at night. And so,
too, yesterday morning they began again, and continued
till about four o'clock, they chasing us for the most part of
Saturday, and yesterday we flying from them." Prince
Rupert's fleet, however, was seen coming, " upon which De
Ruyter called a council, and thereupon their fleet divided
into two squadrons — forty in one, and about thirty in the
other ; the bigger to follow the duke, the less to meet the
prince. But the prince come up with the generall's fleet,
and the Dutch come together again, and bore towards
their own coast, and we with them. The duke was forced
to come to anchor on Friday, having lost his sails and
rigging."

Some days afterwards he continues the description of
the fight : " The commanders, officers, and even the com-
mon seamen do condemn every part of the late conduct of
the Duke of Albemarle ; running among them in his
retreat, and running the ships on groimd ; so as nothing
can be worse spoken of. That Holmes, Spragg, and Smith
do all the business, and the old and wiser commanders
nothing." " We lost more after the prince came than
before. The Prince was so maimed, as to be forced to be
towed home." Among several commanders killed in the
action was Sir Christopher Mings.

He describes the affection the seamen entertained for
those commanders they esteemed : " About a dozen able,
lusty, proper men come to the coach-side with tears in
their eyes, and one of them that spoke for the rest begun
and said to Sir W. Coventry, ' We are here a dozen of us,
that haVe long known and loved and served our dead com-
mander, Sir Christopher Mings, and have now done the
last office of laying him in the ground. We would be glad
we had any other to offer after him, and in revenge of him.
All we have is our lives ; if you will please to get His
Royal Highness to give us a fire-ship among us all, here are
a dozen of us, out of all which choose you one of us to be
commander, and the rest of us, whoever he is, will serve

PRESS-GANGS. 1G3

him ; and, if possible, do that which shall show our memory
of our dead commander, and our revenge.' Sir W. Coven-
try was herewith much moved, as well as I, who could
hardly abstain from weeping." "Sir Christopher Mings
was a very stout man, and a man of great parts, and most
excellent tongue among ordinary men ; and would have
been a most useful man at such a time as this."

He gives a deplorable account of the state of the navy,
the neglect of business by Charles and his brother, and the
want of money. On the 8th of October, 1665, he writes :
" I think of twenty-two ships, we shall make shift to get
out seven. (God help us ! men being sick, or provisions
lacking.) There is nothing but discontent among the
officers, and all the old experienced men are slighted."

Speaking of the action with the Dutch, he says : " They
do mightily insult of their victory, and they have great
reason. Sir William Barkeley was killed before his ship
taken ; and there he lies dead in a sugar-chest, for every-
body to see, with his flag standing up by him. And Sir
George Ascue is carried up and down the Hague for people
to see."

The abominable system of the press-gang was then in
full force, and was carried on with the same cruelty which
existed till a much later period : " To the Tower several
times, about the business of the pressed men, and late at
it till twelve at night shipping of them. But, Lord ! how
some poor women did cry ; and in my life I never did see
such natural expression of passion as I did here in some
women bewailing themselves, and running to every parcel
of men that were brought one after another to look for
their husbands, and wept over every vessel that went off,
thinking they might be there, and looking after the ship
as far as ever they could by moone-light, that it grieved
me to the heart to hear the.m. Besides, to see poor,
patient, labouring men and housekeepers leaving poor
wives and families, taken up on a sudden by strangers,
was very hard, and that without press-money, but forced
against all law to be gone. It is a great tyranny."

The next morning he went "to Bridewell to see the
pressed men, where there are about 300 ; but so unruly

164

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

that I durst not go among them ; and they have reason to
be so, having been kept these three days prisoners, with
little or no victuals, and pressed out and contrary to all
course of law, without press-money, and men that are not
liable to it." " I found one of the vessels loaden with
the Bridewell birds in a great mutiny ; I think it is much
if they do not run the vessel on ground."

He continues : " With regard to the building of ten
great ships, none to be under third-rates ; but it is impos-
sible to do it, unless we have some money."

PKESS-QANG.

Sir W. Penn gives his advice as to the mode of fighting
at sea : " We must fight in a line, whereas we fight pro-
miscuously, to our utter and demonstrable ruin ; the Dutch
fighting otherwise ; and we, whenever we beat them. 2.
We must not desert ships of our own in distress, as we did,
fbr that makes a captain desperate, and he will fling away
his ship when there are no hopes left him of succour. 3rd.

ABUSES IN TttE NAVAL SERVICE. 165

That ships when they are a little shattered must not take
the liberty to come in of themselves, but refit themselves
the best they can, and stay out — many of our ships coming
in with very small disableness. He told me that our very
commanders, nay, our very flag-officers, do stand in need
of exercising among themselves, and discoursing the busi-
ness of commanding a fleet ; he telling me that even one
of our flagmen in the fleet did not know which tack lost
the wind or kept it in the last engagement. Then in the
business of forecastles, which he did oppose, all the world
sees now the use of them for shelter of men."

He observes that " we see many women now-a-days in
the streets, but no men ; men being so afraid of the press."

He speaks of purchasing " four or five tons of corke, to
send this day to the fleet, being a new device to make
barricades with, instead of junke." The importance of
protecting men against shot was even then, it will be seen,
thought of.

On the 10th he goes " to the office ; the yard being very
full of women coming to get money for their husbands and
friends that are prisoners in Holland ; and they lay clamour-
ing and swearing and cursing us, that my wife and I were
afraid to send a venison-pasty that we have for supper
to-night, to the cook's to be baked."

On the 23rd July Sir W. Coventry talks to him of the
" Loyal London (which, by the way, he commends to be
the best ship in the world, large and small) hath above
eight hundred men. The first guns made for her all
bursted, but others were made, which answered better."

Speaking of the late battle, he remarks that " the Reso-
lution had all brass guns, being the same that Sir John
Lawson had in her in the Straights. It is to be observed
that the two fleets were even in number to one ship."

Sir W. Coventry " spoke slightingly of the Duke of
Albemarle, saying, when De Ruyter come to give him a
broadside — ' Now,' says he (chewing of tobacco the while),
' will this fellow come and give me two broadsides, and
then he shall run ;' but it seems he held him to it two
hours, till the duke himself was forced to retreat to refit,
and was towed off, and De Ruyter staid for him till he

166 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

come back again to fight. One in the ship saying to the
duke, ' Sir, methinks De Ruyter hath given us more than
two broadsides.' ' Well,' says the duke, ' but you shall
find him run by-and-by,' and so he did, but after the duke
himself had been first made to fall of."

From the accounts he gives of the condition of the navy,
it is surprising that our ships were not everywhere beaten.
On the 20th of October he writes : " Commissioner Middle-
ton says that the fleet was in such a condition as to
discipline, as if the devil had commanded it; so much
wickedness of all sorts. Enquiring how it came to pass
that so many ships had miscarried this year, he tells me
that the pilots do say that they dare not do nor go but as
the captains will have them ; and if they offer to do other-
wise, the captains swear they will run them through.
That he heard Captain Digby (my Lord of Bristoll's son,
a young fellow that never was but one year, if that, in the
fleet) say that he did hope he should not see a tarpawlin
have the command of a ship within this twelve months " —
tarpaulin being the common name applied to a sailor in
those days.

On the 19th : " Nothing but distraction and confusion in
the affairs of the navy."

On the 28th he adds : " Captain Guy to dine with me.
He cries out of the discipline of the fleet, and confesses
really that the true English valour we talk of is almost
spent and worn out ; few of the commanders doing what
they should do, and he much fears we shall therefore be
beaten the next year. He assures me we were beaten
home the last June fight, and that the whole fleet was
ashamed to hear of our bonfires. The Revenge 'having her
forecastle blown up with powder to the killing of some
men in the river, and the Dyamond being overset in the
careening at Sheerness, are further marks of the method
all the king's work is now done in. The Foresight also
and anpther come to disasters in the same place this week
in the cleaning."

On the 2nd of November he describes the Ruby, French
prize, " the only ship of war we have taken from any of
our enemies this year. It seems a very good ship, but

THE DUTCH IN THE THAMES. 107

with galleries quite round the sterne to walk in as a bal-
cone, which will be taken down."

News of the Dutch having been seen off the mouth of
the Thames alarms every one ; and on the 24th of March,
1607, he writes : " By-and-by to the Duke of Yorke, where
we all met, and there was the king also ; and all our dis-
course was about fortifying of the Medway and Harwich ;
and here they advised with Sir Godfrey Lloyd and Sir
Bernard de Gunn, the two great engineers, and had the
plates drawn before them ; and indeed all their care they
now take is to fortify themselves, and are not ashamed
of it."

On the 9th of June he writes : " I find an order come
for the getting some fire-ships presently to annoy the
Dutch, who are in the king's channel, and expected up
higher."

The next day : " News brought iis that the Dutch are
come up as high as the Nore ; and more pressing orders
for fire-ships. We all went down to Deptford, and pitched
upon ships and set men at work, but, Lord ! to see how
backwardly things move at this pinch, notwithstanding
that by the enemy being now come up as high as almost
the Hope."

Anxiety and terror prevailed in the eity, and people
were removing their goods — the thoughtful Mr. Pepys
making a girdle to carry £300 in gold about his body.
The alarm is further increased when a neighbour comes up
from Chatham, and tells him that that afternoon he " saw
the Royal James, the Oake, and London burnt by the
enemy with their fire-ships ; that two or three men-of-war
come up with them, and made no more of Upnor Castle's
shooting than of a fly ; that the Dutch are fitting out the
Royal Charles."

Ships were to be sunk in the river, about Woolwich, to
prevent the Dutch coming up higher.

" The masters of the ships that are lately taken up, do
keep from their ships all their stores, or as much as they
can, so that we cannot despatch them, having not time to
appraise them, nor secure their payment. Only some little
money we have, which we are fain to pay the men we have

1G8 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with every night, or they will not work. And, indeed,
the hearts as well as the affections of the seamen are turned
away ; and in the open streets in Wapping, and up and
down, the wives have cried publickly, ' This comes of not
paying our husbands ; and now your work is undone, or
done by hands that understand it not.' "

Some of the men, " instead of being at work at Dept-
ford, where they were intended, do come to the office this
morning to demand the payment of their tickets ; for
otherwise they would, they said, do no more work ; and
are, as I understand from everybody that has to do with
them, the most debauched, swearing rogues that ever were
in the navy, just like their prophane commander."

" Nothing but carelessness lost the Royal Charles, for
they might have saved her the very tide that the Dutch
came up. The Dutch did take her with a boat of nine
men, who found not a man on board her ; and presently a
man went up and struck her flag, and jacke, and a
trumpeter sounded upon her, 'Joan's placket is torn;'
they did carry her down at a time, both for tides and
wind, when the best pilot in Chatham would not have
undertaken it, they heeling her on one side to make her
draw little water, and so carried her away safe."

" It is a sad sight to see so many good ships there sunk
in the river, while we would be thought to be masters of
the sea."

He also examines the chain which had been carried
across the river, " and caused the link to be measured, and
it was six inches and one-fourth in circumference."

He commends the Dutch " for the care they do take to
encourage their men to provide great stores of boats to
save them ; while we have not credit to find one boat for
a ship." The English mode " of preparing of fire-ships," he
observes, " do not do the work, for the fire not being strong
and quick enough to flame up, so as to take the rigging
and sails, lies smothering a great while, half-an-hour
before it flames, in which time they can get the fire-ships
off safely. But what a shame it is to consider how two of
our ship's companies did desert their ships. And one
more company did set their ship on fire and leave her;

DIFFICULTY OF MANNING THE FLEET. 10!)

which afterwards a Feversham fisherman came up to, and
put out the fire, and carried safe into Feversham, where
she now is. It was only want of courage, and a general
dismay and abjectness of spirit upon all our men; God
Almighty's curse upon all that we have in hand, for never
such an opportunity was of destroying so many good ships
of theirs as we now had."

To replace the Royal Charles carried away, a new ship
was launched on the 4th of March, 1668, called the
Charles ; " God send her better luck than the former."

At a Privy Council which he attended, "to discourse
about the fitness of entering of men presently for the
manning of the fleet, before one ship is in condition to
receive them," the king observed, "'If ever you intend to
man the fleet without being cheated by the captains and
pursers, you may go to bed and resolve never to have it
manned.'"

At another council he speaks of " a proposition made to
the Duke of York by Captain Von Hemskirke, for £20,000
to discover an art how to make a ship go two feet for one
what any ship do now, which the king inclines to try, it
costing him nothing to try ; and it is referred to us to
contract with the man." He afterwards says that the
secret was only to make her sail a third faster than any
other ship.

On the 25th of March, 1669, a court-martial was held
about the loss of the Defyance. The sentence was, " That
the gunner of the Defyance should stand upon the Cliarles
three hours with his fault writ upon his breast, and with a
halter about his neck, and so be made incapable of any
service." The ship was burnt by the gunner allowing a
girl to carry a fire into his cabin.

Whatever our shortcomings in regard to naval affairs, it
is pleasant to believe that they cannot possibly be so great
as in the days of Mr. Samuel Pepys.

CHAPTER XI.

antr jjtarg*

(FROM A.D. 1689 TO A.D. 1702.)

[ NE of the last acts of James was to send a fleet
under the command of Lord Dartmouth to
intercept that of William of Orange, which it
was known was on the point of sailing. On
board the Dutch fleet was Admiral Herbert,
acting as commander-in-chief, though all the officers were
Dutch. It was hoped that he would win over the English
fleet. As it proved, both the officers and men of the navy
were as ill-affected to James as were those of the army.
Thus, as an old writer observes, " that naval force which
James had cultivated with so much care, and on which he
depended so much, proved of no use — so difficult a thing
is it to bring Englishmen to enslave England."

The Dutch fleet consisted of about 50 men-of-war, 25
fire-ships, and near 400 transports and victuallers and
other vessels, carrying about 4000 horse and 10,000 foot.
Admiral Herbert led the van of the fleet, Vice- Admiral
Evertzen brought up the rear, and the prince himself was
in the centre, carrying a flag with English colours, and
their highnesses' arms surrounded with this motto, " THE
PROTESTANT RELIGION AND THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND,"
and underneath the motto of the House of Nassau, " Je
maintiendrai," " I will maintain."

After being driven back by a storm, the fleet came to an
anchor in Torbay on the 4th of November. The prince
wished to land that day, it being the one on which he was
born ai'.d married, and he fancied that it would look

LANDING OP KING WILLIAM. 171

auspicious to the army, and animate the soldiers, but the
general wish was that he should not land till the following,
being Gunpowder Treason day, that their landing on that
day might have a good effect on the minds of the English.
No sooner had the Dutch fleet got into harbour than a
heavy storm sprang up from the westward, which compelled
the English fleet to run into Portsmouth, from which they
could not again issue till William had won the day.
When Lord Dartmouth was able to leave the port he
conducted the fleet to the Downs, and there holding
council of war, it was resolved — first, to dismiss from their
commands all such officers as were known to be papists,
and then to send up an address to his highness setting
forth their steady affection to the Protestant religion, and
their sincere concern for the safety, freedom, and honour of
their country.

Not long after this the ships were dispersed, some to the
dockyards to be dismantled and laid up, others to be
cleaned and repaired, and such as were in the best condition
for sea were appointed for necessary services. The first
service in which Admiral Herbert was employed was to
endeavour to intercept the French fleet which had sailed
for Ireland to support the landing of King James. On the
1st of May, 1689, the English admiral discovered the
enemy's ships at anchor in Bantry Bay ; when the French
stood out to sea in a well-formed line of battle to meet him.
After a warm engagement of some hours the two fleets
separated, when the French, claiming the victory, retired
into Bantry Bay, and the English towards Scilly. After
waiting for reinforcements in the chops of the channel,
none arriving, Admiral Herbert returned to Portsmouth.
Notwithstanding his ill-success, the king, in gratitude for
the services he had before rendered him, created him Earl
of Torrington, while Captains John Ashby, and Cloudesly
Shovel were knighted. In 1690 Sir Cloudesly Shovel
commanded a squadron of six men-of-war, which escorted
the fleet of transports conveying King William's forces to
Carrickfergus, in Ireland. The Earl of Torrington, when
in command of the combined English and Dutch squadrons
in the channel, on the 30th of June, fell in with the

172 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

French fleet commanded by the Count de Tourville
between Cherbourg and the Isle of Wight. The combined
fleets amounted to 56 ships only, while the French
possessed 78 men-of-war and 22 fire-ships. The Dutch
and Blue Squadrons being surrounded by the French, after
making a gallant defence, were rescued by the Earl of
Torrington. After this, rinding that no impression could
be made on the French fleet, it was decided in a council of
war that it would be wiser to destroy the disabled ships
than, by protecting them, hazard an engagement. The
Anne, of 70 guns, which was dismasted, was forced on
shore and destroyed. The enemy also attempted to destroy
a Dutch 64 which was driven on shore, but her commander
defended her with so much bravery, that he compelled the
French to desist, and she, being got off, arrived safe in
Holland. The earl then retreated into the Thames,
leaving a few frigates to observe and watch the motions
of the enemy, who remained masters of the channel. In
consequence of his conduct, the earl was brought to a
court-martial, but having ably defended himself, he was
unanimously acquitted. The king, notwithstanding, to
appease the clamours of the nation and the Dutch, took
away his commission.

He was succeeded in the command of the fleet by
Admiral Russell, who, greatly owing to the energetic pro-
ceedings of Queen Mary, while the king was absent in
Ireland, had, by May, 1691, a squadron of considerable
force, equipped and ready for sea, at his disposal. So ele-
vated were the French at their unusual success, that they
had the following inscription engraved on the stern of a
new first-rate ship of war named the St. Louis —

" I, on the ocean, am the mightiest thing,
As on the land, is my all-potent king."

English men-of-war were ere long, however, to teach
them to sing a different note. A fleet of ninety-nine sail,
including the Dutch ships, was got ready by May, 1692.
The English fleet was divided into two squadrons, the Red
and the Blue. Among the ships we find the names of
many which have become famous in naval history. There

RUSSELL'S ENGAGEMENT OFF CAPE BARFLEUR. 173

were six ships of 100 guns each. In the Red Squadron
there was the Britannia, carrying the flag of Admiral
Russell ; the Royal Sovereign, that of Vice- Admiral Sir
Ralph Delaval ; the London, that of the rear-admiral, Sir
Cloudesly Shovel; the Sandwich, of 90 guns ; the Swiftsure,
Hampton Court, Eagle, and Captain; of 70 ; the Ruby,
Oxford, and Centurion, of 50. In the Blue Squadron there
were the Victory, of 100 guns, with the flag of Admiral
Sir John Ashby ; the Windsor Castle, with that of Vice-
Admiral Sir George Rooke ; the Neptune, of 96 guns ; the
Albemarle and Vanguard, of 90 guns ; the Royal Oak, of
74 ; the Northumberland, Berwick, Warspight, Mon-
rnouth, and Edgar, of 70 ; the Lion and Dreadnought, of
CO — names long known in the British Navy. Altogether,
the English fleet carried 4504 guns, and 27,725 men. The
Dutch fleet carried rather more than half the number of
guns, and less than half the number of men. No more
powerful fleet had ever yet ploughed the ocean — it was,
probably, immeasurably more so than that which en-
countered the Spanish Armada ; while the commanders
were as expert and daring as their predecessors, the sea-
men were infinitely better trained.

The combined fleet sailed from Spithead on the 18th of
May, and stood across to the coast of France. The Chester
and Charles galleys, being sent ahead, just at dawn on the
19th, Cape Barfleur bearing south-west by south, distant
about seven leagues, made the signal of the French fleet
being in sight, by firing some guns. Admiral Russell
thereon ordered his fleet to form a line of battle, and
directed the rear to attack, so that, should the French
stand to the northward, they might the sooner come up
and engage. As the sun rose above the ocean on that
May morning, soon after four o'clock, the enemy were seen
standing southward, forming their line on the same tack as
that of the allied squadrons. The French admiral, De Tour-
ville, who had till now supposed that he was about to meet
only a portion of the English fleet, nevertheless considering
that their hasty retreat would cause a confusion which might
prove more hazardous than the battle itself, continued his
orders for the engagement, and bore down on the allies.

174 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

Admiral Russell on seeing this, annulled the signal for the
rear to attack, and bore away to join the leeward-most ships,
and formed a line ahead in close order of sailing. The
French advanced till within musket-shot of the English
line, when, hauling up to windward, the Soleil Royal, at
11.30 A.M., opened fire upon the Britannia. De Tour-
ville's object was to cut through the English line, but in
consequence of the light breeze having dwindled to a
calm, in bearing up as he did the French admiral lost
his advantage. The Soleil Royal and the Britannia thus
lay for an hour and a-quarter about three-quarter's musket-
shot of each other, the English plying their guns so warmly,
that the Frenchman was in that time dreadfully cut up
in his rigging, sails, and yards ; it being evident, also, that
he had lost a great many men, for no effort was being
made to repair damages. So actively did the English
gunners work their pieces, that it was reckoned that dur-
ing the whole fight they fired at least three broadsides
while the French fired two. Captains Churchill and
Aylmer who had come up to assist the admiral, had six
of the enemy's largest ships to deal with ; while Sir
Cloudesly Shovel, who had got to windward, briskly plied
the Count de Tourville's squadron. As the day advanced,
however, a dense fog came on, so that in a short time not
a ship of the enemy could be seen, and the English, for
fear of injuring their friends, ceased firing. The ships
which had not yet got into action on account of the calm,
had their boats ahead, and used their utmost endeavours
to tow them into the fight. The English fire-ships
had, however, been put to good use, having burnt four
of the enemy's ships. The killed and wounded were
already numerous; the Eagle alone having 70 men
killed and 150 wounded. Among the former were
Rear -Admiral Carter, and Captain Hastings of the
Sandwich.

Night coming on, the darkness, increased by the thick
fog, put an end to the fight for that day. On the
morning of the 10th a portion of the French fleet was
discovered, when, the wind springing up, a general chase
ordered. This continued till 4 P.M., when, the wind

COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH. 175

shifting to the southward, and the ebb ceasing, both fleets
anchored and furled sails.

On the 21st the fleet anchored near the Race of Alder-
ney, Cape La Hogue, bearing about south. Twenty-three
of the French ships had anchored still nearer the Race,
and fifteen others about three leagues to the westward.
The flood-tide setting in strong, a number of the French
ships were observed to be driving ; on this Admiral
Russell threw out a signal to Vice-Admiral Delaval to
stand in-shore and destroy them. On following out his
directions, he found the Soleil Royal and two others
aground, close to the beach. Finding, however, that his
ships drew too much water, he sent in three fire-ships,
embarking in one of them himself. He succeeded in
burning two of the three-deckers, but another fire-ship
was sunk by the enemy's shot. The St. Allans and
Ruby standing in, now attacked a third French ship,
when Vice-Admiral Delaval, observing that her crew had
deserted their guns, boarded. On finding dead and
wounded men alone on her decks, he ordered the latter
to be removed, and then set the ship on fire.

One of the fire-ships, commanded by Captain Fowlis,
who was conducting her against the Soleil Royal, was set
on fire by her shot, though he and his crew escaped.
Captain Heath, however, succeeded in burning her with
another fire-ship, in the most gallant manner. The Con-
que'rant was burnt by Captain Greenaway, and the
Admirable by the boats. The greater number of the
enemy's ships had run in for shelter close to the shore.
Accordingly, on the 23rd of May, Admiral Russell des-
patched Vice-Admiral Rooke with a squadron of men-of-
war, frigates, and fire-ships, and the boats of the fleet, to
destroy those ships. It was found, however, that the
small frigates alone could advance near enough to effect
anything. The boats, however, gallantly led by Rooke,
pulled in at night and destroyed seven of them, and the
next morning, again pulling in, burnt eight, with several
transports and ammunition vessels. Several of the ships
were first boarded, and the French, with their own guns,
driven from their platforms and batteries on shore ; and

176 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

this was done in sight of the French and Irish camps,
which lay ready to invade England. Altogether, sixteen
sail of the line and numerous transports were destroyed.
The victory was complete, and the annihilation of the
French fleet entirely dissipating the hopes of James, its
effect contributed greatly to place William the Third on
his throne. Vice-Admiral Rooke, who became one of
England's greatest admirals, was knighted for his gal-
lantry on this occasion.

While some of the ships returned to Spithead, a con-
siderable portion were stationed in different parts of the
channel to watch the French fleet, and to prevent them
making their way either to the eastward or westward.
(""" Among the gallant men who have contributed to the
naval glory of England, the name of John Benbow must
ever be had in remembrance. His father, Colonel Ben-
bow, was one of those true-hearted cavaliers who fought
bravely for their king to the last, and having seen one of
his brothers shot by the Parliamentary forces, he made his
escape, till an amnesty being granted, he was able to
return and live in private in England. His fortune
having been expended, he was glad to accept a small office
belonging to the Ordnance, in the Tower. On the break-
ing out of the first Dutch war, the king came to examine
the magazines. Charles, whose memory was as quick as
his eye, recognised the veteran, who had for twenty years
been distinguished by a fine head of grey hair. "My old
friend, Colonel Benbow," said he, "what do you here ?"

" I have," returned the colonel, " a place of £80 a-year,
in which I serve your majesty as cheerfully as if it brought
me in £4000 a-year."

" Alas !" said the king, " is that all that could be found
for an old friend of Worcester ? Colonel Legge, bring this
gentleman to me to-morrow, and I will provide for him
and his family as it becomes me."

Short as the time was, the colonel did not live to claim
the royal promise ; for, overcome by the king's unexpected
gratitude, sitting down on a bench, he there breathed his
last before his majesty was well out of the tower. What-
ever might have been the king's intentions, he thought no

BENBOW'S EARLY DAYS. 177

more of the old cavalier's family, and the colonel's son,
John, went to sea in a merchant- vessel, and shortly became

^wner and commander of a ship, called the Benbow frigate.

L No man was better known or more respected by the mer-
chants upon the Exchanged) The following anecdote shows
his character, and is in accordance with the spirit of the
times in which he lived. In the year 1688 he was, while
in command of the Benbow frigate, attacked on his passage
to Cadiz by a Sallee rover of far superior force, against
which he defended himself with the utmost bravery. At
last the Moors boarded him, but were quickly beaten out
of his ship again with the loss of thirteen men, whose
heads Captain Benbow ordered to be taken off, and thrown
into a tub of pork pickle. On reaching Cadiz he went on
shore, ordering a negro servant to follow him with the
Moors' heads in a sack. Scarcely had he landed when the
officers of the revenue inquired of the servant what he had
in his sack. The captain answered, " Salt provisions for
his own use." " That may be," answered the officers, " but
we must insist upon seeing them." Captain Benbow said
that he was no stranger there, that he was not accustomed
to run goods, and pretended to take it very ill that he was
thus suspected. The officers told him that the magistrates
were sitting not far off, and if they were satisfied, the ser-
vant might carry the provisions where he pleased. The
captain consented to the proposal, and away they marched
to the custom-house. The magistrates, when he camo
before them, treated Captain Benbow with great civility,
telling him that they were sorry to make a point of such a
trifle, but that since he refused to show the contents of his
sack to their officers, they were compelled to demand a
sight of them.

"I told you," said the captain, sternly, "they were salt
provisions for my own use. Caesar, throw them down upon
the table ; and, gentlemen, if you like them, they are at
your service."

The Spaniards were much struck at the sight of the
Moors' heads, and no less so at the account the captain
gave them of his engagement, and defeat of so large a force
of barbarians. They sent an account of the whole matter

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to the court at Madrid, and the Kiag of Spain was so much
pleased with it, that he requested to see the English cap-
tain, who made a journey to court, where he was received
with much respect, and not only dismissed with a hand-
some present, but the king was to write a letter on his
behalf to King James, who, upon his return, gave him a
ship, which was his introduction to the Royal Navy.

He had always been looked upon as a bold, brave, and
active commander, and one who, though he maintained
strict discipline, took care of, and was therefore cheerfully
obeyed by, his seamen. He maintained the same character
in the Royal Navy, and was ever beloved and honoured by
his ships' companies. As the channel was much infested
by French privateers, a large number of which were fitted
out at St. Malo, it had been considered advisable to destroy
that town and the vessels within its harbour. Captain
Benbow, with a squadron of twelve ships of the line, four
bomb galliots, ten or twelve frigates, and several sloops,
having crossed the channel, entered the harbour and came
to an anchor within half-a-mile of the town. The ships
then opened fire, and continued battering away at the
place till four in the morning, when they were compelled
to come out to prevent grounding. Two successive days
they continued doing the same, firing seventy bombs one
day, but with frequent intermissions, inducing the inhabi-
tants to believe that they were about to retire. The cap-
tain had, however, prepared a fire-ship, with which it was
intended to have reduced the town to ashes. This vessel
was a new galliot, of about 300 tons. In the bottom of
the hold were placed above a hundred barrels of powder,
covered with pitch, tar, resin, brimstone, and faggots.
Over this was a row of thick planks or beams, with holes
pierced through them in order to communicate the fire
from above, and upon them were placed 340 carcases filled
with grenadoes, cannon-balls, iron chains, firearms loaded
with ball, large pieces of metal wrapped up in tarpaulins,
and other combustible matters. This craft was sent in
before the wind, and was near the very foot of the wall
where it was to be fastened, when a sudden gust of wind
drove it upon a rock, where it stuck, near the place where

FRENCH TOWNS 15OMBAHDED. 170

it was intended to have blown up. The engineer, however,
had time to set fire to it before he retired. It blew up
soon afterwards, but the carcases, which were to have done
the greatest execution, being wet, did not take fire ; yet
the shock was so terrible, that it threw down part of the
town wall, shook every house in the town, and overthrew
the roofs of above 300 which were nearest. The capstan,
weighing above a ton, was thrown over the wall on the top
of a house, which it beat down. A similar machine had
been used for blowing up the bridge at the siege of Ant-
werp in 1585.

In 1694 another expedition, under the command of Sir
Cloudesly Shovel, was sent to the coast of Flanders, for the
purpose of destroying the town of Dunkirk. Previous
attacks had been made on the coast of France of a similar
character. Mr. Meesters, the inventor of some infernal
machines, accompanied the expedition. He requested that
a captain might be appointed to the command of the
smaller craft, and Captain Benbow was accordingly directed
to take command of the bomb-galliots and fire-ships.
Owing to numerous delays, the French having got notice
of the intended attack, had time to make preparations for
defeating it, which resulted in the loss of several ships.
Dieppe, however, had been bombarded, when 1100 bombs
and carcases were thrown into it with such success, that
the town was set on fire in several places, and the towns-
men and some regiments sent to their assistance had to
beat a rapid retreat.

An infernal machine, such as has before been described,
was blown up at the pierhead. It made a frightful noise,
but did little execution, occasioned, as was supposed, by
the pierhead lying too low. The fuzee having gone out,
Captain Dunbar, who commanded the vessel, again went
on board and set fire to it in the most gallant manner.

Havre-de-Grace was likewise bombarded, when the town
was set in flames. Bad weather coming on, the bomb-
vessels were ordered off, the mortars being either melted
or the vessels so shattered, that no present use could be
made of them. One of them, the Granado, was entirely
blown to pieces by a bomb, which fell into her. It was

180 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

hoped, however, that Sir Cloudesly's expedition would be
more successful. Notwithstanding a heavy fire from a
French frigate in the roads, from numerous forts, and from
five other frigates near the basin, Captain Benbow carried
his vessels and boats close up to the town, and came off
again in the night without any damage. The next day,
the weather being fair, the boats and vessels were again
sent in, when the French frigate, after firing her broadside,
ran in to the pier. In the afternoon, two infernal machines
were blown up at a little distance from the pierhead, but
without doing any damage, except to the crew of the boat
which towed them in, who were all blown up on board.
The French, also, having driven piles outside the pierheads,
and sunk four ships, it was found impossible to approach
nearer the town, and the undertaking was therefore aban-
doned. This is one of the many instances which prove
that fire-ships, if resolutely met by the enemy against whom
they are intended to act, are not capable of effecting much
damage.

A remarkable instance of promotion for gallant conduct
occurred early in the reign of William and Mary. On the
25th of March, 1689, the 36-gun frigate Nonsuch, Cap-
tain Roome Coyle, fell in with two French ships, one
mounting 30, the other 22 guns, off Guernsey. He
without hesitation engaged them, when he and the
master being killed, and there being no lieutenant on
board, the boatswain, Robert Simcock, took the command.
So spiritedly did the brave boatswain continue the action,
that both French ships were captured. For his gallant
conduct Mr. Simcock, on reaching Portsmouth with his
prize, was forthwith promoted to the rank of captain, and
appointed to command the Nonsuch.

Next year a ship called the Friends Adventure, belong-
ing to Exeter, was captured by a French privateer, who
took out of her the master and five of his men, leaving on
board only the mate, Robert Lyde, of Topsham, twenty-
three years of age, and John Wright, a boy of sixteen, with
seven Frenchmen, who had orders to navigate the ship to
St. Malo. When off Cape la Hogue, a strong wind spring-
ing up, drove them off the French coast. Lyde now began

CAPTURED VESSELS GALLANTLY RECOVERED. 181

to entertain hopes of recovering the ship, and on the 6th
of March he and his companion took the opportunity, while
two of the Frenchmen were at the pump, one at the helm,
one on the forecastle, and three asleep in the cabin, to
attack them. Lyde with an iron crowbar killed one of
the men at the pump, and knocked down the other at
one blow. Wright at the same moment knocked down the
man on the forecastle, and they then secured the man at
the helm. One of the Frenchmen hearing a scuffle, and
running up from between decks to the assistance of his
companions, was wounded by the mate, but the two others
coming to his relief seized and had nearly secured the
gallant fellow, when the boy, bravely hurrying to his aid,
after a sharp struggle, killed one and gave the other quarter.
Having thus made themselves masters of the ship, they put
the two disabled men into bed, ordering a third to look
after them, and secured them between decks. One they
kept bound in the steerage, and made use of the remaining
man to navigate the vessel, which, on the 9th of March,
they brought safely into Topsham, with their five prisoners
on board.

About the same time the sloop Tryal was captured by
a French man-of-war, who put five Frenchmen on board,
leaving only the master, Richard Griffiths, afterwards
Captain Griffiths, commonly known by the name of " Hon-
our and Glory," and a boy, John Codamon, in the sloop.
Griffiths and his boy having formed their design, suddenly
set upon the five Frenchmen, and, having wounded three
and forced all five down into the hold, carried their vessel
with their prisoners safe into Falrnouth.

I give these instances to show the stuff out of which the
commanders and crews of men-of-war were formed in those
days. They show, also, that the authorities who governed
the navy appreciated bravery, and were ready to obtain
the services of such gallant fellows for the advantage of
the country.

We find fire-ships at this period universally sent to sea
with fleets. Sir Francis Waller, on board the Sussex, was
ordered to proceed to Cadiz, and from thence to convoy
the merchant-vessels he might find there to Turkey or

182 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

any ports in Spain or Italy. His fleet consisted of fifteen
third-rates, seven fourth-rates, one fifth-rate, six fire-ships,
two bomb-vessels, a hospital-ship, and a store-ship in com-
pany with several Dutch ships of war. Having touched
at Gibraltar, he again put to sea, and met with gales of
wind ; and ultimately, in thick weather, he with part of
his fleet running to the straits mistook the entrance. The
Sussex, with 550 men on board, foundered, two Moors only
escaping. The admiral's body was afterwards discovered on
shore much mangled. Besides this loss, 409 were drowned
belonging to various ships which were either driven on
shore or foundered. Among them was the Cambridge, a
ship of 70 guns, and the Lumley Castle.

On most occasions the fire-ships, being generally old
vessels fit for no other purpose, were the chief sufferers.
A Dutoh ship of 70 guns ran on shore, but was got off
again; as were several other ships ; indeed, few escaped
without much damage. This was the most violent storm
that had ever been known in those seas since the memory
of man.

William was now taking measures for retrieving the
honour of the British Flag, and appointed Admiral Russell
conlmander-in-chief of the navy, and several other eminent
officers to form a new commission of admiralty. He also,
finding that the pay of sea officers was less than that of
other countries, directed that the sea pay of flag officers,
commanders, lieutenants, masters, and surgeons should be
doubled ; as also that all flag officers and captains of first,
second, third, fourth, and futh rate ships, and also the
masters of first, second, and third rates, who had served a
year in the same post in the ships of those rates, or been
in a general engagement, should have half-pay while on
shore, to be paid quarterly out of the general estimate of
the navy. From this it is evident that they before this
time, as also those of other ranks, received no half-pay
while on shore. It was also ordered that only such com-
missioned officers as had been pi.it in by the Admiralty,
and warrant officers as had been put in by the Navy Board,
should receive the benefit of half- pay; that half-pay
officers be expected to assist the Navy Board; that no

A REGIMENT OF MARINES RAISED. 183

convoy money be demanded or received under the penalty
of forfeiting and losing employment for ever; that the
commanders transmit to the Admiralty when and why
they came into port.

The French had not abandoned their design of restoring
James the Second to the throne. He had abdicated, and
in 1696, while most of the British ships were laid up, and
the rest were employed in the protection of the trade up
the Mediterranean, it was discovered that 500 transports
were in Dunkirk ready to take on board an army of 20,000
men, under the escort of fifteen sail of men-of-war, for the
invasion of England. While these preparations were mak-
ing, and every ship was of consequence, the Royal Sove-
reign, laid up at Chatham to be rebuilt, took fire, and was
totally consumed. She was the first great ship that ever
was built in England. The great object then was only to
exhibit as much splendour and magnificence as possible.
In the reign of Charles the Second, however, being taken
down a deck lower, she became one of the best men-of-war
in the world, and so formidable to her enemies, that none
of the most daring among them would willingly lie by her
side. She had been in almost all the great engagements
that had been fought between England and Holland, and
in the last fight between the English and French, when
she compelled the Soleil Royal to fly for shelter among
the rocks. At length, leaky and defective with age, she
was laid up at Chatham, in order, as has. been said, to be
rebuilt.

In the year 1691 the first mention is made of a regular
regiment of marines being raised to serve on board ship.
In this year one dry and two wet docks were ordered to be
constructed at Portsmouth, and orders were given to survey
the harbour of Falmouth, and report whether it was capable
of being made a proper port for the refitting and docking
ships of the Royal Navy.

It was not till the year 1693 that men-of-war on the
home service were allowed to carry to sea spare topmasts
and sails.

In 1694 the king, by the advice of the excellent Queen
Mary, granted the royal palace of Greenwich to be oon-

184 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

verted into a hospital for decayed seamen in the Royal
Navy. Sir Christopher Wren was appointed as architect,
and an annual sum of money was granted to complete and
extend the buildings. The foundation of the first new
building was laid on the 3rd of June, 1696.

In the same year the landmark on the beach at Stoke,
near Gosport, called the Kicker, was erected, and the buoy
of the horse placed at Spitheacl, for the better security of
ships going into Portsmouth Harbour. Some docks were
made at Plymouth, and storehouses, as also residences for
the accommodation of the officers of the dockyard, were
built.

In 1695 brass box-compasses were invented and allowed
to the ships in the Royal Navy. Many ships having been
wrecked upon the Eddystone Rock off Plymouth, an appli-
cation was made to the Trinity House to erect a lighthouse
on it, which was begun to be built in 1696, and was finished
in three years. Many masters and owners of ships agreed
to pay one penny per ton outwards and inwards, to assist
in defraying the expense.

In 1696 an Act of Parliament was passed to establish a
register for 30,000 seamen, to be in readiness at all times
for supplying the Royal Navy. They were to have a
bounty of forty shillings yearly. None but such registered
seamen were to be preferred to the rank of commissioned or
warrant officers in the Royal Navy. They were likewise
entitled to a double share in all prizes, and when maimed
or superannuated, were admitted into Greenwich Hospital
The widows and children of such registered seamen who
might be killed in the service were admissible into that
Ebspital. It was also enacted that sixpence per month
should be deducted from the wages of all seamen both in
the merchant service as well as in the Royal Navy, foi
the support of Greenwich Hospital.

A composition was invented to be laid on the bottom}
of ships to preserve them against worms. The experi-
ment was ordered to be tried on his majesty's ship th«
Sheerness.

In 1696 the Parliament voted £2,372,197 for the main-
tenance of 40,000 seamen and two regiments of marines,

CAPTAIN KIDD EXECUTED. 185

the ordinary of the navy, and the charge of the registry of
seamen. This was the largest sum by far hitherto voted
for the maintenance of the navy.

In 1697 Commissioner Greenhill proposed a plan for
rowing of ships in a calm, which was tried on board His
Majesty's ship the Eayperiment.

In 1700 the rate of pay of sea-officers was again re-
duced. It was far less than that of the French ; the
French admiral having £1500 per annum for his table-
money, whereas the English admiral had only £365, no
allowance whatever being made to other admirals, unless
commanders-in-chief.

For several years the West Indies and Spanish Main
had been infested by the buccaneers, who plundered with-
out distinction the ships of all nations, but particularly
those of the Spaniards. Several were taken, among the
most notorious of whom was Captain Kidd, who, being
brought to England and tried at the Old Bailey, was fully
convicted, and executed with several of his companions.
The immense property which Kidd had amassed was
given for the support of Greenwich Hospital. The Earl
of Bellamont, Governor of New England, and others, were
accused in Parliament of favouring Kidd, and giving him
a commission, but the charges were refuted.

On the 25th of July,- 1701, a new Royal Sovereign, of
110 guns, was launched at Woolwich. She was the
largest ship in the navy, the length of her keel was 146
feet 6 inches, and from the top of the taffrail to the fore-
part of the figure-head, 210 feet 7 inches; her extreme
breadth being 54 feet 3| inches.

Several actions exhibiting extraordinary courage, per-
formed during the war with France, are worthy of notice.
On the 30th of May, 1695, William Thompson, master of
a fishing-boat belonging to Poole, in Dorsetshire, with a
crew of one man and a boy, observed a French sloop
privateer standing towards him. He had but two swivel
guns and a few muskets; the privateer had two guns,
several small arms, and sixteen men. Thompson, finding
that his small crew were ready to support him, made up
his mind to do battle with the Frenchman. As she

180 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

approached, lie began blazing away, and in a short time
wounded the captain, and mate, and six men of the
privateer, upon which she sheered off. Thompson on this
made chase, and so skilfully did he manage his little craft,
and with so much determination keep up his fire, that
after engaging the privateer for two hours, she struck.
On his arrival at Poole with his prize, he was warmly
received, and the Lords of the Admiralty, hearing of his
gallantry, presented him with a gold chain and a medal
of the value of £50.

Another fishing-vessel, belonging to Whitesand, com-
manded by a Mr. Williams, falling in with some merchant-
vessels which had been captured by French privateers,
attacked them with so much courage and skill, that he
retook the whole. He received the same reward as had
Mr. Thompson.

Not long afterwards a coasting sloop, the Sea Adven-
ture, commanded by Peter Jolliffe, fell in, off Portland,
with a French privateer, which was in the act of taking
possession of a small fishing-vessel belonging to Wey
mouth. The privateer endeavoured to escape, when
Jolliffe made sail in chase, and coming up, briskly opened
his fire, when he compelled her to release her prize. Not
content with this success, he continued the fight, and at
length drove her on shore in Lulworth Bay. The sea-
faring population of the village hurrying out, captured the
privateer, and made prisoners of her crew.

Just before the close of the war, Captain William
Jumper, commanding the Weymouth, engaged and sank
the Fougueux, a French 48-gun ship, and shortly after-
wards he fell in with another French 50-gun ship, but in
the heat of the engagement, some powder on board the
Weymouth blew up the poop, and disabled her for further
immediate action. Having repaired damages, Captain
Jumper again closed with the enemy, but unhappily his
bowsprit and three lower-masts fell overboard, when the
French ship made sail and escaped. On the 19th of the
following August he fell in with a sail to leeward, between
the island of Cloune and St. Martins. He immediately
ran down, hoisting the French ensign, and yawing a little

CAPTAIN JUMPER CAPTURES " L'AMORE." 187

to slimy il. Another French frigate at anchor under the
cnstlc, \\righed and stood off, The first man-of-war, sus-
pecting the character of the stranger, made sail, but the
Weymouth, outsailing her, got close under her lee, keep-
ing his French ensign flying to prevent the enemy from
firing at his masts till he was near enough. He then
hoisted the English ensign and poured in a broadside, and
commenced bracing his main-topsail back; when, before
he had fired off a second round, the enemy, which proved
to be L'Amore, of Rochefort, a king's ship, struck her
colours. The other ship, seeing the fate of her consort,
escaped. The prize was a vessel similar to an English
galley. She carried 20 guns on the upper-deck, and 9
on the lower-deck, but 4 on the quarter-deck, and between
decks she had small ports for oars.

CHAPTER XII.

(FROM A.D. 1702 TO A.D. 1714. ^

NNE, daughter of James the Second, married
the Prince George of Denmark, and ascended
the throne March the 8th, 1702. Although
the army was held in more consideration
during her reign than the navy, the British
seamen managed by their gallant deeds to make the ser-
vice respected at home and abroad. It was not much to
his advantage that the queen appointed her consort, Prince
George, to be Lord High Admiral. The acts done in his
name were not so narrowly scrutinised as they would
otherwise have been, and the commissioners of the Ad-
miralty took good care to shelter themselves under his
wing.

Three of the most celebrated admirals in this reign were
Sir George Rooke, Sir Cloudesly Shovel, and Admiral
Benbow. Sir George, upon the breaking out of war with
France, was appointed to the chief command of the fleet.
An expedition, which he at once sent against Cadiz, was
unsuccessful. Not long afterwards, intelligence was carried
to Sir George that a French squadron and a fleet of Spanish
galleons was at Vigo. Sir George immediately sailed with
the English and Dutch fleets, and appeared before that port.
The weather being hazy, the people in the town did not
discover them. The passage into the harbour is not more
than three quarters of a mile across. Batteries had been
thrown up on either side, and garrisoned with a large body
of troops, while a strong boom, composed of ships-yards and
188

Sill GEORGE llOOKE IN VIGO BAY. 189

topmasts fastened together with three-inch rope, had been
carried across it. The top chain at each end was moored
to a 70-gun ship, while within the boom were moored five
ships, of between 60 and 70 guns each, with their broad-
sides fronting the entrance to the passage, so that they
could fire at any ship which came near the boom, forts, or
platform. As it was impossible for the whole fleet to enter,
a detachment of fifteen English and ten Dutch men-of-war,
with all the fire-ships, followed by the frigates and bomb-
vessels, were ordered to enter and attempt the destruction
of the enemy's fleet, while the troops were to land and
attack the forts in the rear. Vice-Admiral Hopson in the
Torbay led the van ; but when he got within shot of the
batteries it fell calm, so that the ships were compelled to
come to an anchor. A strong wind, however, soon after-
wards springing up, Admiral Hopson cutting his cables
clapped on all sail, and, amidst a hot fire from the enemy,
bore up directly for the boom, which he at once broke
through, receiving broadsides from the two ships at either
end. The rest of the squadron and the Dutch following,
sailed abreast towards the boom, but being becalmed they
all stuck, and were compelled to hack and cut their way
through. Again a breeze sprang up, of which the Dutchman
made such good use that, having hit the passage, he went
in and captured the Bourbon. Meantime Admiral Hop-
son was in extreme danger, for the French fire-ship having
fallen on board him, whereby his rigging was set on fire,
he expected every moment to be burnt ; but it happened
that the fire-ship was a merchantman, and laden with snuff,
and being fitted up in haste, the snuff in some measure
extinguished the fire. The gallant Hopson, however,
received considerable damage, for, besides having his fore-
topmast shot away, he had 115 men killed and drowned,
and 9 wounded, while his sails and his rigging were burnt
and scorched. He was, therefore, compelled to leave his
ship, and hoist his flag on board the Monmouth.

At the same time, Captain Bokenham, in the Associa-
tion, laid his broadside against the town, while Captain
Wyvill, in the Barfleur, a ship of the like force, was sent
to batter the fort on the other side. The firing of the

1 DO POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

great and small shot of both sides was continued for sorno
time, till the French admiral, seeing the platform and fort
in the hands of the English and his fire-ship useless, while
the confederate fleet were entering, set fire to his own ship,
ordering the rest of the captains under his command to
follow his example, which was done in so much confusion,
that several men-of-war and galleons were taken by the
English and Dutch. The allies and French lost about an
equal number of men, but by this victory a vast amount
of booty, both of plate and other things, was captured.
The Spanish fleet was the richest that ever came from the
West Indies to Europe. The silver and gold was com-
puted at 20,000,000 of pieces of eight, of which 14,000,000
only had been taken out of the galleons and secured by
the enemy at Lagos, about twenty-five leagues from Vigo,
and the rest was either taken or sunk in the galleons.
Besides this, there were goods to the value of 20,000 pieces
of eight, and a large quantity of plate and goods belonging
to private persons. A few years ago only, a company was
formed in England for the purpose of dredging for the trea-
sure sunk in the galleons, but the scheme was abandoned
on the discovery that much less amount of treasure than
here described was really lost, the confederates having
captured nearly all of that which had not been lauded at
Lagos.

By this blow the naval power of France was so deeply
wounded, that she never recovered it during the war.

Admiral Benbow had in the meantime been despatched
to the West Indies, in command of a small squadron, to
prevent the Spanish islands from falling into the power of
France. Hearing that Monsieur de Casse, the French
admiral, had sailed for Carthagena, he pursued him. On
the 19th of August, in the afternoon, he discovered ten
sail steering westward along the shore under their topsails.
Upon this, he threw out a signal for a line of battle. The
frigates being a long time coming up, and the night
advancing, Benbow steered alongside the French, having
disposed his line of battle in the following manner : — The
Defiance, Pendennis, Windsor, Breda, Greenwich, Ruby,
and Falmouth. Though he endeavoured to near them,

ADMIRAL EENBOW IN THE WEST INDIES. 191

he intended not to make any attack until the Defiance
had got abreast of the headmost. He, however, was com-
pelled before long to open his fire ; but after. two or three
broadsides had been exchanged, the Defiance and Windsor
luffed up out of gunshot, leaving the two sternmost ships
of the enemy engaged with the admiral, while his own
ships in the rear did not come up as he had expected. IJe
afterwards altered his line of battle. The next morning at
daybreak, he was near the French ships, but none of his
squadron, excepting the Ruby, were with him, the rest
lying some miles astern. There was but little wind, and
though the admiral was within gunshot of the enemy, they
did not fire. In the afternoon, a sea-breeze springing up,
the enemy got into line and made what sail they could,
while the rest of the English ships not coming up, the
admiral and Ruby plied them with chase-guns, and kept
them company all the next night. On the 21st the
admiral again exchanged fire with the enemy's fleet, as did
the Ruby, and he would have followed had not the Ruby
been in such a condition that he could not leave her.
The Ruby was so disabled during this and the following
day, that the admiral ordered her to return to Port
Royal.

The rest of the squadron now came up, and the enemy
being but two miles off, the gallant Benbow was at last in
hopes of doing something, and continued, therefore, to steer
after them, but again, all his ships, with the exception of
the Falmouth, were astern, and at twelve the enemy
began to separate. Early on the morning of the 24th he
again came within hail of the sternmost of the French
ships. At three, while hotly engaged with them, the
admiral's right leg was shattered to pieces by a chain-shot,
and he was carried below, but soon after, he ordered his
cradle on the quarter-deck, and the fight was continued
till daylight, when one of the enemy's ships, of 20
guns, was discovered to be very much disabled. A strong
breeze now brought the enemy down upon him, when three
of his own ships getting to leeward of the disabled ship,
fired their broadsides and stood to the southward. Then
came the Dejiance, which, after exchanging fire with the

192 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

disabled ship, put her helm a-weather and ran away before
the wind, without any regard to the signal of battle. The
French seeing the two ships stand to the southward, and
finding that they did not attack, immediately bore down
upon the admiral, and running between their disabled ship
and him, poured in all their shot, by which they brought
down his main-topsail yard, and shattered his rigging very
much.

Some time after this, his line of battle signal flying all
the while, Captain Kirby came on board and told him that
he had better desist, that the French were very strong,
and that from what was past, he would guess he would
make nothing of it. On this he sent for the rest of the
captains. They obeyed him, but were most of them of
Captain Kirby's opinion. This satisfied the admiral that
they were not inclined to fight ; when, had they supported
him, the whole French fleet might have been captured.
On this he returned with his squadron to Jamaica. As
soon as he arrived he ordered a court-martial on the
captains who had deserted him. One, Captain Hudson,
died a few days before his trial came on. Captains
Kirby and Wade were condemned to death, and being
sent home, were shot immediately on their arrival at
Plymouth, in 1703.

The gallant Benbow, in spite of the fearful wound he
had received, lingered till the 4th of November, when he
yielded up his brave spirit, feeling more the disgrace which
his captains had brought upon the English flag than his
own sufferings. All the time of his illness he continued
to issue his orders, and showed more anxiety for the
interests of the nation than for his private affairs. He
received a proof of what would have been the result of
the action had he been properly supported, in a letter
from the brave French Admiral Du Casse. " Sir, — I had
little hopes on Monday last but to have supped in your
cabin, but it pleased God to order it otherwise. I am
thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who

deserted you, hang them up, for by they deserve it.

— Yours, Du CASSE."

The opinion of the nautical poets of the time is well

DEATH OF BENBOW. 193

shown in one of those sea-songs which have done so much
to keep up the spirits of British tars.

IJeath of ^enboto."

COME all ye sailors bold,

Lend an ear, lend an ear,
Come all ye sailors bold, lend an ear ;
'Tis of our Admiral's fame,
Brave Benbow called by name,
How he fought on the main,
You shall hear, you shall hear.

Brave Benbow he set sail,

For to fight, for to fight ;
Brave Benbow he set sail
With a free and pleasant gale,
But his captains they turned tail,

In a fright, in a fright.

Says Kirby unto Wade,

I will run, I will run ;
Says Kirby unto Wade, I will run ;
I value not disgrace,

Nor the losing of my place, «*

My en'mies 111 not face
With a gun, with a gun.

Twas the Ruby and Noah's Ark

Fought the French, fought the French ;
Twas the Ruby and Noah's Ark fought the French ;
And there was ten in all ;
Poor souls they fought them all,
They valued them not at all,
Nor their noise, nor their noise.

It was our Admiral's lot,

With a chain-shot, with a chain-shot ;
It was our Admiral's lot, with a chain-shot
Our Admiral lost his legs ;
Fight on, my boys, he begs,
'Tis my lot, 'tis my lot.

While the surgeon dressed his wounds,

Thus he said, thus he said ;
While the surgeon dressed his wounds, thus lie said,

104 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Let my cradle now, in haste,
On the quarter-deck be placed,
That my enemies I may face,
Till I'm dead, till I'm dead.

And there bold Benbow lay,

Crying out, crying out ;
And there bold Benbow lay, crying out,
Let us tack about once more,
We'll drive them to their own shore ;
I don't value half-a-score,
Nor their noise, nor their noise.

In 1703 Rear-Admiral Dilkes did good service by pur-
suing a fleet of forty-three French merchantmen, convoyed
by three men-of-war, into a bay between Avranches and
Mount St. Michael. He first sent in his boats, under
cover of the ships, when fifteen sail were taken, six burnt,
and three sunk ; and, on the following morning, the enemy
having got into too shoal water for the large ships to
approach, he in person led the boats, when two men-of-war
were burnt, a third was taken, and seventeen more of the
merchant-vessels were burnt, so that only four escaped.
For this signal service the queen ordered gold medals to
be struck, and presented to the admiral and all his officers.

Parliament this year voted 40,000 men, including 5000
marines, for the sea-service.

On the night between the 26th and 27th of November,
one of the most fearful storms ever known in England
began to blow. It commenced between eleven and twelve
o'clock, from the west-south-west, with a noise which
resembled thunder, accompanied by bright flashes of light-
ning, and continued with almost unrelenting fury till seven
the next morning. During these few hours thirteen men-
of-war were cast away, and 1509 seamen were drowned.
Among the officers who lost their lives were Rear- Admiral
Beaumont, when his ship, the Mary, was driven on the
Goodwin Sands. Of the whole ship's company, Captain
Hobson, the purser, and one man, Thomas Atkins, alone
were saved. The escape of Atkins was remarkable. When
the ship went to pieces, he was tossed by a wave into the
Stirling Castle, which sank soon after, and he was then

CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR. 195

thrown by another wave, which washed him from the wreck
into one of her boats. Sir Cloudsley Shovel, who was lying
in the Downs, saved his ship by cutting away her main-
mast, though she narrowly escaped running on the Gallop-
per. The wives and families of the seamen who perished
on this occasion received the same bounty as would have
been granted had they been actually killed in fight in
her majesty's service. The House of Commons also
resolved to present an address to her majesty, stating,
that as they could not see any diminution of her majesty's
navy without making provision to repair the same, they
besought her immediately to give directions for repairing
this loss, and for building such capital ships as her
majesty should think fit.

In 1704 Sir George Rooke, who commanded a large
squadron in the Mediterranean, on board of which was a
body of troops under the Prince of Hesse, resolved to
attempt the capture of Gibraltar. On the 17th of July,
while the fleet lay in Tetuan Roads, he called a council
of war, when, finding that his officers were ready to sup-
port him, he gave orders that the fleet should at once
proceed to the attack. Entering the Bay of Gibraltar,
the ships took up a position to prevent all communication
between the rock and the continent, and the Prince of
Hesse landed on the isthmus with 1800 marines. His
highness having taken post there, summoned the gover-
nor, who answered that he would defend the place to the
last. At daybreak on the following morning, the 22nd,
Sir George ordered the ships under the command of Rear-
Admiral Byng and Rear-Admiral Vanderduesen to com-
mence the cannonade, but owing to want of wind they
were unable to reach their stations till nearly nightfall.
In the meantime, to amuse the enemy, Captain Whitaker
was sent in with some boats, who burnt a French privateer
of 12 guns at the old mole. On the 23rd, soon after day-
break, the ships having taken up their stations, the
admiral gave the signal for commencing the cannonade,
when, in five or six hours, 15,000 shot were thrown into
the fortress, compelling the enemy to retreat from their
guns. Sir George now considering that could the fortifica-

196 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

tions be captured, the town would yield, sent in Captain
Whitaker with all the boats, to endeavour to possess him-
self of it. Captain Hicks and Captain Jumper, who lay
next the mole, were the first to reach the shore with their
pinnaces, and before the other boats could come up, the
enemy sprang a mine, which blew up the fortifications on
the mole, killed 2 lieutenants and about 40 men, and
wounded about 60 others. The gallant captains, then
advancing, gained possession of the great platform, Cap-
tain Whitaker capturing a redoubt half-way between the
mole and the town, many of the enemy's guns being also
taken. The next day the governor offered to capitulate ;
when, hostages being exchanged, the Prince of Hesse
marched into the town, of which he took possession, the
Spaniards composing the garrison being allowed to march
out with all the honours of war — though the French were
excluded from this part of the capitulation, and were
detained as prisoners of war.

The town was found to be extremely strong, with 100
guns mounted, all facing the sea, and with two narrow
passes to the land. It was also well supplied with ammu-
nition, but the garrison consisted of less than 150 men.
However, it was the opinion that fifty men might have
defended the fortifications against thousands, and the
attack made by the seamen was brave almost beyond
example. Sixty only were killed, including those blown
up, and 216 wounded. As this design was contrived by
the admiral, so it was executed entirely by the seamen, and
to them was the honour due.

Leaving a garrison under the Prince of Hesse, the fleet
sailed to Tetuan, in order to take in wood and water. At
the end of the year the Spaniards attempted its recapture,
but Sir John Leake arriving to its relief, surprised and
took three French frigates, a fire-ship, corvette, and store-
ship laden with warlike stores, the very night before the
Spaniards had intended to storm it. The following month
2000 troops arrived to garrison the place, making it no
longer necessary for the ships to remain in the bay.

Notwithstanding the many important services rendered
by Sir George Rooke, his political opponents gaining the

ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE ROOKK. 19*7

ascendant, so annoyed him that he resolved to retire, to
prevent public business from receiving any disturbance on
his account. He passed the remainder of his days as a
private gentleman, for the most part at his seat in Kent.
He left but a small fortune, so moderate that when he
came to make his will, it surprised those who were present.
The reason he assigned reflected more honour on him than
had he possessed unbounded wealth. His words were :
" I do not leave much, but what I leave was honestly
gotten — it never cost a sailor a tear, or the nation a farth-
ing." He died on the 24th of January, 1708-9, in the
fifty-eighth year of his age, leaving one son, George Rooke,
by the daughter of Colonel Luttrell, of Dunster Castle,
Somersetshire.

On the resignation of Sir George Rooke, Sir Cloudsley
Shovel was appointed Vice- Admiral of England.

In 1704 a sum of £10,000 was voted by Parliament for
building a wharf and storehouses in the dockyard at Ports-
mouth, and 40,000 men for the sea-service, including 8000
marines, proving the value which was attached to this arm.
Probably they were trained even then to assist in working
the ship, while to them was committed those duties exclu-
sively which have since been so ably performed by our
gallant blue-jackets on shore.

On the 1st of December, 1704, Greenwich Hospital was
opened for the reception of seamen, and a lieutenant-
governor, captain, and two lieutenants, a physician, and
surgeon, were appointed by warrant. Numerous other
officers were afterwards appointed, as well as two chap-
lains.

In I705,the Eddystone Lighthouse, which had been blown
down during the great storm, was rebuilt by Act of Parlia-
ment, and the contribution from the English shipping,
which had before been voluntary, was fixed by its autho-
rity. The contest with France, Queen Anne's war, as it
was called, resulted in the general destruction of the
French power at sea ; and after the battle of Malaga, we
hear no more of their great fleets. The number of their
privateers, however, was very much increased, in conse-
quence of which Parliament was urged on by the mercan-

198 POPULAR HISTOEY OF TtiE BRITISH

tile interest to put them down. The loss also by the great
storm, and the misfortunes met with in the West Indies,
indeed, every untoward accident, induced the nation more
eagerly to demand an augmentation of the navy. Thus,
at the close of 1706, not only were the number but
the quality of the men-of-war greatly superior to what
they had been in Charles's reign. The economy and
discipline of the navy was also much improved. Great
encouragement was also given to seamen, by the utmost
care being taken in the treatment of the wounded, and
exact and speedy payment of prize-money.

A bounty was now given for hemp imported from
the plantations, and every encouragement was afforded to
British merchants to enable them to carry on their
schemes with vigour.

The gallantry of Captain Mordaunt, son of the Earl of
Peterborough, in command of the Resolution, of 70 guns,
in the Mediterranean, deserves to be remembered. He
had sailed with his father from Barcelona on the 13th of
March, 1706, with an envoy of the King of Spain to the
Duke of Savoy on board, and had in company the Enter-
prise and Milford frigates. When within about fifteen
leagues of Genoa, six French line of battle ships were seen,
who immediately gave chase to the English squadron.
Lord Peterborough and the Spanish envoy on this went on
board the Enterprise, and, with the Milford, made their
escape to Leghorn. The enemy continued the chase of the
Resolution, when one of their ships came about ten o'clock
at night within shot of her, but did not begin to fire till
the other ships had come up. The Resolution had been
much shattered a few days before in a heavy gale of wind,
and was at no time a fast sailer. Notwithstanding the
great disparity in force, Captain Mordaunt made a brave
resistance ; but by the advice of his officers he ran the
ship ashore under the guns of a Genoese fort, from
which, however, he received no manner of protection ; and
shortly afterwards he was wounded in the thigh, when he
was carried on shore. At five the French commodore sent
in all the boats of his squadron, but the enemy were
repulsed and obliged to retire to their ships. The next

DEATH OF SIR CLOUDSLEY SHOVEL. 199

morning a French 80-gun ship, brought up under the
Resolution's stern, with a spring in her cable, and opened
a heavy fire upon her. Her officers finding that there was
no prospect of saving the ship, with the consent of Cap-
tain Mordaunt, set her on fire, and in a short time she was
consumed, while they and the crew got safely on shore.

The last act of the gallant Sir Cloudsley Shovel was an
attempt to assist the Duke of Savoy and Prince Eugene,
who were closely investing Toulon. A large number,
however, of the French ships were destroyed before the
siege was raised. On his return to England, on the 23rd of
October, 1707, a strong gale blowing from the south-south-
west, his ship, the Association, ran upon the rocks called
the Bishop and his Clerks off Scilly, and immediately going
to pieces, every soul perished. The Eagle and Romney
shared the same fate ; other ships struck, but happily got
off. The body of the brave Sir Cloudsley was the next
day cast 011 shore, and was known by a valuable ring which
he wore on his finger. Being brought to Plymouth, it was
thence conveyed to London and interred in Westminster
Abbey, where a magnificent monument was erected by
Queen Anne to his memory.

We may judge of the progress of the navy by the sums
voted by Parliament for its support, which in this year
amounted to £2,300,000.

In 1708, Commodore Wager, with a small squadron,
attacked a fleet of galleons on their way from Porto Bello to
Carthagena. The Spanish admiral's ship, the San Josef,
of 64 guns and 600 men, blew up with a cargo on board
of £7,000,000 in gold and silver, only seventeen men being
saved. The vice-admiral escaped, but the rear-admiral,
of 44 guns, was captured. She had, however, only thirteen
chests of eight and fourteen sows of silver. The rest of the
galleons were for the most part loaded with cocoa. Two
of Commodore Wager's captains, who had disobeyed his
orders, were tried by a court-martial, and dismissed from
the command of their ships.

About the same time Captain Purvis, while chasing a
French ship, got his vessel on a ledge of rocks, where she
was bilged. He, and some of his men, however, reached

200 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

a small Key within shot of the French ship, which mounted
14 guns and had on board 60 men. She kept up a brisk
fire upon the Key until Captain Purvis with his own boats
and a canoe had boajrded her, when her commander called
for quarter and surrendered on condition that he and his
crew should be set on shore. Captain Purvis got the
French ship off and returned in her to Jamaica.

Another gallant exploit was performed* by Captain Colby,
commanding a privateer. Being on a cruise on the Spanish
main, he fell in with fourteen sail of brigantines and sloops,
laden with valuable goods taken out of the galleons at
Porto Bello. They were bound to Panama, under convoy
of a guard sloop, which he bravely fought and took, with-
six of her convoy.

An Act of Parliament was passed this year, by which the
forfeited and unclaimed shares of prize-money were to be
paid into Greenwich Hospital.

The Prince George of Denmark dying, the Earl of Pem-
broke was appointed Lord High Admiral of Great Britain
in his stead.

England was, as before, determined to assert her supposed
sovereignty of the narrow seas, and to compel other nations
to acknowledge her claims. While cruising in the chops
of the channel the Winchester, Captain Hughes, chased
a strange sail, on coming up with which he discovered her
to be a large Dutch privateer. The commander, on being
required to pay the usual compliment to the British flag,
not only refused, but discharged a broadside into the
Winchester. An obstinate fight ensued, in which the Dutch
commander and forty of his men were killed. The Dutch
and English were at this time, it will be remembered, at
peace; but we hear of no complaint being made of the
proceeding.

On the retirement of the Earl of Pembroke, the queen,
in November, 1709, issued a warrant for the executing of
the office of Lord High Admiral by commission. The next
year an Act was passed for the purchase of lands in order
to, fortify and better secure the royal docks at Portsmouth,
Chatham, Harwich, Plymouth, and Milford Haven.

By another Act, any*" seaman in the merchant-service,

ALEXANDER SELKIRK. 201

who had been disabled in defending or taking enemy's
ships was deemed qualified to be admitted into Greenwich
Hospital.

A fleet, under Sir Hovenden Walker,> whose flag-ship
was the Edgar, was sent out to attack Quebec, and to
recover from the French Placentia, in the island of New-
foundland. Having arrived too late in the season he was
compelled to return. While he and most of the officers
were on shore, on the 15th of October, the Edgar blew
up at Spithead, when every soul perished.

There lay at that time in the Downs two privateers, the
Duke, of 30 guns and 170 men, commanded by Captain
Wood Rogers, and the Duchess, of 26 guns and 150 men,
commanded by Captain Stephen Courtnay, having been
fitted out by some Bristol merchants to cruise against the
Spaniards in the South Seas. They had just returned
from thence, having captured a Spanish ship with two
millions of pieces of eight on board. On their voyage they
had touched at the island of Juan Fernandez, which they
reached on the 31st of January, 1708-9. Two of the
officers with six armed men had gone on shore, but not
quickly returning, the pinnace was sent well manned to
bring them off. Towards evening they both came back
bringing with them a man clothed in goat-skins, who
appeared wilder than the goats themselves. He seemed
very much rejoiced at getting on board, but at first could
not speak plainly, only dropping a few words of English by
times, and without much connection. However, in two or
three days he began to talk, when he stated that, having
been four years and as many months upon the island with-
out any human creature with whom to converse, he had for-
gotten the use of his tongue. He had been so long inured
to water and such insipid food as he could pick up, that it
was some time before he could reconcile himself to the
ship's victuals, or to the taking of a dram. He stated that
he was a native of Largo, in Fifeshire, that his name was
Alexander Selkirk, and that he had belonged to a ship
called the Cinque Ports, commanded by one Strad-
ling, who, upon some difference, set him on shore here,
leaving him a firelock with some powder and ball, a kmie,

202 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

a hatchet, a kettle, some mathematical instruments, a
Bible, and two or three other useful books, with a small
quantity of tobacco, a bed, bedding, &c. At first his loneli-
ness weighed heavily on his spirits, but in time he became
inured to it, and got the better of his melancholy. He had
erected two huts, one of which served him for a kitchen,
the other for a dining-room and bed-chamber. They were
made of pimento wood, which supplied him also with fire
and candle, burning very clear, and yielding a most refresh-
ing fragrant smell. The roof of his hut was of long grass,
and it was lined with the skins of goats, nearly five hundred
of which he had killed during his residence on the island,
besides having caught above five hundred more, which he
marked on the ears, and then set at liberty. When his
ammunition was exhausted he caught them by running,
and so active was he, that the swiftest goat upon the island
was scarcely a match for him. While the ships remained,
Mr. Selkirk often accompanied the men to hunt the goats
with the dogs, whom he always distanced, and frequently
tired out. At first, for want of salt, he was unable to
relish his food, which consisted of goats' flesh and crawfish,
but in time he took to seasoning it with pimento fruit,
which is not unlike the black pepper of Jamaica. At first
the rats plagued him very much, growing so bold as to
gnaw his feet and clothes while he slept. However, he
managed to tame some cats which had been left on shore,
and these soon kept the rats at a distance. He also made
pets of a few kids, and used to divert himself by dancing
among them, and teaching them a thousand tricks. When
his clothes were worn out, he made a fresh suit of goat-
skins joined together with thongs which he had cut with
his knife, and which he ran through holes made with a
nail instead of a needle. He had a piece of linen remain-
ing, of which he made a shirt to wear next his skin. In a
month's time he had no shoes left, and his feet having
been so long bare were now become quite callous, and it
was some time after he had been on board that he could
wear a shoe.

Alexander Selkirk subsequently entered the Royal Navy
and became a lieutenant. A monument to his memory

THE BRITISH FLAG TRIUMPHANT IN EVERY SEA. 203

was erected on the island of Juan Fernandez by the cap-
tain and officers of a British ship of war which touched
there a few years ago. On Selkirk's adventures Daniel
Defoe founded his immortal story of " Robinson Crusoe."

For some time before the end of Queen Anne's reign no
general action worthy of particular mention was fought,
although in several engagements between single ships or
small squadrons the seamen of England maintained the
honour of the British flag. At length, in 1713, the peace of
Utrecht put an end to the war. During it the French
had been deprived of all pretensions to the dominion of
the sea. England had gained and retained possession of
Gibraltar, Minorca, Hudson's Bay, the whole of Nova
Scotia, the island of St. Christopher, and also the chief
part of Newfoundland; her fleets had literally swept the
Mediterranean of all foes, scarcely a French ship daring to
navigate its waters, and even the Algerines and other
piratical states of Barbary, instead of paying court to the
French, now yielded to us, and acknowledged the supe-
riority of the British flag.

CHAPTER XIII.

% Jfirst anfr

(FBOM A.D. 1714 TO A.D. 1760.)

| APPILY, England being at peace with France
when George the First came to the throne,
and the Dutch being our firm allies, the
history of that period is barren of naval
engagements. We possessed, however, num-
erous skilful commanders, and the navy was in as efficient
a state as at any previous period. Sir George Byng, after-
wards Viscount Torrington, commanded the fleets of Eng-
land during the greater part of this reign. The principal
officers who served under him were Sir John Leake, Sir
John Jennings, Sir James Wishart, Admiral Baker, the
Marquis of Carmarthen, Sir William Jumper, and Admiral
Aylmer.

On the meeting of Parliament in 1715, 10,000 seamen,
at £4 a-man per month, were voted for the navy. It also
granted £35,574 for the half-pay of sea-officers ; and the
piratical States of Barbary again becoming troublesome,
Admiral Baker cruised against them, and destroyed most
of their vessels.

In 1716 Captain Delgarno, an active officer in command
of the Hind, 20 guns, came up with one of their best
men-of-war, mounting 24 guns ; when, after a most obsti-
nate and bloody battle, he compelled her to strike, and
soon after she sank, all her crew, with the exception of
thirty-eight, perishing.

The West Indies being at this time overrun with a
desperate set of pirates, a proclamation was issued offering
204

PIRATES CAPTURED. 205

a pardon to all who would surrender themselves within a
twelvemonth. After the expiration of that time a reward
was offered to any of his majesty's officers, by sea or land,
who should take a pirate, after he had been legally con-
victed : for a captain, £100 ; for any other officer down
to a gunner, £40 ; an inferior officer, £30. Any private
man delivering up a captain or commodore was entitled
to £200.

In 1718 the Spaniards sent a fleet and army to attack
the possessions of the King of Naples, on the island of
Sicily. This giving offence to the English, Sir George
Byng was appointed to the command in the Mediterranean,
with directions to protect the Neapolitans. Soon after Sir
George arrived off Messina he discovered a Spanish fleet
amounting to twenty-seven sail, besides fire-ships, bomb-
vessels, and galleys. On seeing the English, the Spaniards
stood away, and the admiral chased them, and finally, after
a running fight, captured the Spanish admiral, Chacon,
with five ships of the line, one frigate of 44 guns, and one
of 36. Captain Walton in the Canterbury, with five more
ships, had been sent in pursuit of another part of the
Spanish fleet. On the 22nd August Sir George received
the following pithy despatch from him : —

"We have taken and destroyed all the Spanish ships
and vessels which were upon the coast, the number as per
margin. — I am, yours, &c., G. WALTON."

In 1722, the navy being on a peace establishment, 7000
seamen alone were voted at the usual rate of £4 a-man
per month.

Notwithstanding the proclamation which had been
issued for the apprehension of pirates, those daring sea-
robbers continued their depredations, and became especi-
ally formidable on the coast of Africa, as well as in the
West Indies. The most notorious of them was one Roberts,
an able seaman, of undaunted courage, and capable of com-
mand. His force consisted of three stout ships ; his own
carried 40 guns and 152 men; another 32 guns and 132
men, and a third 24 guns and 90 men. In April, 1722,
Captain Ogle, commanding the Swallow, being on a cruise
off Cape Lopez, received intelligence that Roberts was lying

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with his three ships in an adjoining bay. Upon this, he
disguised his ship to look like a merchant-vessel, and stood
in, when one of the pirates slipped her cable and gave
chase. Captain Ogle decoyed him off the land till he had
reached such a distance as to prevent his associates hearing
the report of the guns. He then shortened sailed, tacked,
and brought the pirate to action, which continued an hour
and a-half, when, her commander being killed, she struck.
Captain Ogle then steered in for the bay, with the pirate's
colours hoisted over the king's. This stratagem succeeded,
for the pirates, seeing the black flag uppermost, concluded
that the king's ship had been taken, and stood out to sea
to meet and congratulate their consort on his victory.
Their joy was of short duration, for no sooner did they
come alongside the Swallow than Captain Ogle, throwing
off the deception, opened his broadsides upon them. The
action lasted two hours, when, Captain Roberts being killed,
with a large number of his men, both ships struck. Cap-
tain Ogle carried his prizes into Cape Coast Castle, where
the prisoners, to the amount of 160, were brought to trial ;
74 of them were capitally convicted, 52 of whom were
executed and hung in chains along the coast.

In 1725 the South Sea Company commenced a whale-
fishery, in which they employed twelve ships, and were
sometimes very successful.

In 1726 an expedition was sent to the Spanish West
Indies, under Rear-Admiral Hosier, for the purpose of
blocking up the galleons or seizing them should they
venture out. On the first arrival of the squadron its
appearance struck terror along the whole coast, and several
Spanish ships were captured. Conceiving that it was his
duty to blockade Porto Bello, the brave Hosier remained
before it, suffering no ships to go in or come out without
strict examination ; but, after remaining for six months,
fever made such havoc among his seamen, while the ships
were so eaten with worms, that he was compelled to return
to Jamaica. In two months, however, he was again at
sea, and standing over to Carthagena, continued to cruise
in those seas. It is said that he lost his crews twice over.
Thus the gallant Hosier, mourning for his men, and suffer-

ADMIRAL HOSIER DIES AT HIS POST. 207

ing himself from the deadly effects of the climate, still
kept at his post in performance of his duty till, on the
23rd of August, 1727, he breathed his last.

In 1727 a fleet was despatched, under Sir John Norris,
into the Baltic, where he was joined by a Danish squadron,
to keep a watch on the proceedings of the Empress Cathe-
rine, but her death put a stop to the war.

The last naval expedition in this year was one for the
purpose of relieving Gibraltar. Sir Charles Wager and
Rear-Admiral Hopson on arriving there soon compelled
the Spaniards to raise the siege.

George the First ended his reign on the llth of June,
1727.

(George tfje @>econD»

Soon after the accession of George the Second in 1727,
a peace was concluded with Spain, which lasted twelve
years.

Parliament voted a sum of £780,000 to pay the wages
of 15,000 seamen.

On the 16th of April, by an order in council, twenty of
the oldest surgeons in the Royal Navy were to be allowed
two shillings and sixpence per day, half-pay, and the
twenty next in seniority two shillings per day.

Notwithstanding the treaty with Spain, the Spaniards
continued to annoy the British trade, and to treat British
subjects with the greatest insolence and inhumanity. As
an instance, Robert Jenkins, master of the Rebecca brig, of
Glasgow, was boarded by a Guarda Costa, The Spaniards
treated the crew with the greatest barbarity, and cut off
one of the master's ears, which the captain of the Guarda
Costa, giving to Jenkins, insolently told him to carry that
present home to the king his master, whom, if he were
present, he would serve in the same manner. Some years
afterwards, when Jenkins was examined at the bar of the
House of Commons, being asked what he thought when he
found himself in the hands of such barbarians, he replied
with great coolness, " I recommended my soul to God, and
my cause to my country."

208 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Four 20-gun ships and two sloops of war were sent out,
therefore, to the West Indies to cruise for the protection
of British trade.

In 1731 an account of the reflecting or Hadley's quad-
rant appeared in a paper given by a member of the Royal
Society. After Dr. Hadley's death, however, among his
papers a description was found of an instrument not much
dissimilar to Hadley's, written by Sir Isaac Newtolx, who
may, therefore, be considered the first inventor of the
reflecting quadrant.

In 1732 the king granted a commission to the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty to erect a corporation to
relieve the poor widows of sea-officers. The terms of
admission to the institution were that each member, who
must be an officer in the navy, was to allow threepence in
the pound per annum out of his pay. Soon after the
establishment of this fund, Lieutenant George Crow gene-
rously resigned his half-pay for the use of this charity,
stating that he had a competency to live on. The king
gave £10,000 for the support of the charity.

The Sallee rovers still continued very daring and trouble-
some to our trade, and in 1734 a small squadron was sent
out, under Captain James Cornwall in the Greyhound,
to block up the ports of Morocco, and capture the vessels
of the barbarians. Two large corsairs were taken and
destroyed, and 140 British subjects released by the
Emperor of Morocco, who concluded a treaty with Great
Britain.

That year his majesty issued his royal proclamation re-
calling all British seamen from the service of foreign
powers, and offering a bounty of twenty shillings to every
able-bodied seaman, and fifteen shillings to every able-
bodied landsman who should enter the navy.

In the following year 30,000 men were voted for the
sea-service. ^

An Act of Parliament was p'assed this year appropriating
the rents of the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater and
Charles Ratcliff to the completion of the royal hospital at
Greenwich. By this Act all seamen in the merchant-ser-
vice who may happen to be maimed, not only in fighting

ATTACK ON PORTO BELLO. 209

against pirates, but also in fighting against any enemy
whatever, should be admitted into, and provided for, in
that hospital.

In 1739, Spain still obstinately refusing to make any
compensation for the injuries inflicted on English mer-
chant-vessels by guarda costas, Great Britain prepared for
war. Numerous ships were put in commission, and letters
of marque and reprisal were issued by the Admiralty
against Spain. For some time previously the opponents of
the English ministry were continually taunting them with
their want of courage. Among others, Admiral Vernon,
who was then in Parliament, boasted that with six ships he
would undertake to capture the Spanish settlement of
Porto Bello. The whole nation fully believing him, a
squadron was at once placed under his command, when,
after remaining for a few days at Port Royal, Jamaica, he
sailed on the 5th of November, with six ships of war.
Light winds prevented him reaching Porto Bello till
the 20th, when, on the following day, Commodore Brown,
who led in the Hampton Court, got close to the Iron
Castle, where, being becalmed by the high land to wind-
ward, she was exposed for some time to a smart fire from
the enemy, without being able to return it. As soon,
however, as she could do so, she began firing her broadside
with such rapidity that she is said, in twenty-five minutes,
to have expended four hundred shot. She was soon sup-
ported by the Burford, Norwich, and Warwick; these
ships opened a tremendous fire, and did great execution,
the small arms from their tops compelling the Spaniards to
desert their guns. As the boats with seamen and marines
passed the admiral, he ordered them to land immediately
under the walls, though there was no breach made, nor had
the scaling ladders arrived. As a substitute for them,
however, one man placed himself close to the wall under
an embrasure, while another climbed upon his shoulders.
Thus the sailors became masters of the fort, and drew up
the soldiers. The Spaniards, panic-stricken, fled, and the
seamen, no longer obedient to the commands of their
officers, plundered the town, and committed great outrages
on the inhabitants. The governor soon after this hoisted

210 POPULAll HISTOllY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the white flag and surrendered at discretion. Two ships of
20 guns each and other vessels were taken in the harbour,
as also ten thousand dollars intended for the payment of
the garrison, which the admiral ordered to be distributed
among the British forces for their encouragement.

The squadron's loss amounted to scarcely twenty men,
while a large number of great guns, powder, and shot were
captured. To prevent the place from being longer an
asylum for the enemy's guarda costas, Admiral Vernou
directed the whole of the fortifications to be dismantled
and blown up. The news of this success caused un-
bounded satisfaction at home.

In 1740 two Acts were passed, one for the better supply
of seamen to serve in the Royal Navy, one allowing
English merchant-vessels to be navigated by foreign sailors,
not exceeding three-fourths of the crew, such foreign
seamen serving for two years to be considered natural-
born subjects. Another was to prevent impressment of
seamen of the age of fifty or upwards, and all such as have
not attained the full age of eighteen ; also all foreigners serv-
ing in merchant- vessels, sea-apprentices for the first three
years, and persons of any age for the first two years of their
being at sea. A new board was also appointed to superin-
tend the business of the Sick and Hurt Office. The charge
of the prisoners of war was also intrusted to this board.

Anson, one of the most celebrated of British admirals,
entered the navy in 1712, as a volunteer on board the Ruby,
Captain Chamberlain, with whom he continued for several
years, till, in 1718, he was appointed second lieutenant of
the Montague. After commanding the Weasel sloop, he
was promoted to the rank of post-captain in 1724. After
commanding numerous ships, and conducting himself with
much ability and discretion, he was selected to command
that expedition to the South Seas which made his name
famous. In 1740 he sailed from Spithead on the 18th of
September, with a squadron of five ships, the Centurion,
of 60 guns ; the Gloucester, of 50, Captain Norris ; the
Sovereign, of 50, Captain Legge ; the Pearl, of 40 guns,
Captain Mitchell; the Wager, 28, Captain Kidd; the
Tryal, 8 guns, Captain Murray ; and two victuallers, the

ANSON'S VOYAGE. 211

Anna, and Industry pinks. On board the Wager sailed
the Honourable John Byron, then a midshipman. The
Wager must serve as an example for the rest of the ships.
She was an old Indiaman, bought into the service, and now
fitted out as a man-of-war, but also deeply laden with
stores and merchandise of all sorts. Her crew consisted of
men pressed from long voyages, while her land forces were
a wretched detachment of infirm and decrepid invalids
from Chelsea Hospital, desponding under the prospect of
a long voyage. Her commander, Captain Kidd, before his
death, predicted that misfortunes would overtake her.
The Centurion, however, under the judicious management
of Commodore Anson, performed a successful voyage, and
had the good fortune to capture a rich Spanish galleon.

In consequence of the way ships had suffered from the
attacks of worms on former occasions, those now destined
for the West Indies were sheathed by a new process.

On the 25th of February Admiral Vernon again sailed
on an expedition against Carthagena, but finding his force
inadequate to reduce it, after refitting at Porto Bello, he
proceeded to the river Chagres, an accurate chart of which
he had obtained from the pirate Lowther, who, by doing
this piece of service, had his majesty's pardon granted
him. The castle of San Lorenzo was quickly captured,
and a large amount of merchandise and plate found in the
place. After blowing up the fortifications, and destroying
two guarda costas, he returned to Jamaica. He next, being
joined by Sir Challoner Ogle with a large body of troops,
attacked Carthagena ; forcing a beam which had been laid
across the harbour, the fleet entered and blew up a con-
siderable number of forts, great gallantry being shown by
the commanders of the ships of war and their crews. The
British troops, however, were repulsed with great slaughter
in their attempts to storm Fort St. Lazare. In consequence
of sickness, it became at length necessary to raise the siege,
and the admiral returned to Jamaica. The establishment
of a settlement on the island of Rattan and an attack on
Cuba were designed by Admiral Vernon, but this and
other plans were thwarted by the commander of the land
forces, General Wentworth — showing the inconvenience

212 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

which, in nearly all instances, arises from a division of
command. Probably, had the whole power been vested
with Admiral Vernon, his plans would have succeeded.
Soon after his arrival in England, in consequence of a
disagreement with the Admiralty, he was deprived of his
command in 1746, after which he did not again go to sea.
Probably in consequence of observing the ill effects of
undiluted spirits among his crews in the West Indies, he
was the first to order a sailor's allowance of rum to be
mixed with water, to which the name of grog has since
been given.

During this war the English merchants lost a number
of their vessels in the British Channel and the German
Ocean, the prizes being carried into Vigo, Bilboa, and San
Sebastian, where the poor sailors suffered inexpressible
hardships, being driven barefooted a hundred or two hun-
dred miles up the country, lodged in damp dungeons, and
fed only on bread and water. On hearing of this treat-
ment, the British Government allowed to every prisoner
sixpence a-day, which was regularly paid to them. On
the other hand, the English ships of war and privateers
took several valuable prizes from the Spaniards, and
destroyed many of their privateers ; while the masters of
the merchant-ships bravely defended themselves, and were
never taken but by a superior force. One of these actions
is worthy of being recorded. On the 27th of December,
the Pulteney privateer, a large brigantiiie, mounting 16
carriage-guns and 26 swivels, with 42 men, commanded
by Captain James Purcell, was standing into the Bay of
Gibraltar after a cruise, when she was seen from Old
Gibraltar, from whence 2 large Spanish xebecs, each
carrying 120 men, 12 carriage-guns, and a great number
of patereroes and musquetoons, were sent out to take her.
They soon cjame up with her, a little to the eastward of
Europa Point, and almost within reach of the guns of
Gibraltar- In the bay lay an SO-gun ship, but without her
topmasts, so that the only way of assisting the privateer was
to send a reinforcement of men, which might easily have
reached her before the xebecs, but the commander of
the ship of war, alleging that so small a vessel could not

GALLANTRY OF CAPTAIN PURCELL. 213

escape, declined to do so. The gallant Captain Purcell,
however, was of a different opinion, and resolved to defend
his vessel to the last, being supported by his officers and
men. After the Spaniards had fired a few single guns,
they came near and hailed the vessel by her name, the
captain entreating the English to strike and preserve their
lives. These threats were returned by the Pulteney's guns.
The Spaniards then attempted to board, but were resolutely
beaten off. They twice more renewed the attempt ; Cap-
tain Purcell having prudently reserved half his broadside,
they had not the courage to board him. For an hous-
and three-quarters the engagement continued, till the
Spaniards, unable to stand the pounding they were receiv-
ing, made off with their oars towards Malaga, having lost
above a hundred of their men — the Pulteney having had
but one man killed and five more badly wounded, though
it is remarkable that every man on board was shot through
the clothes, the sails and rigging were cut to pieces, and
some 9-pounders went through the hull and masts of
the privateer. The governor, officers, and principal in-
habitants of Gibraltar, who were witnesses of the action, to
show Captain Purcell the high estimation in which they
held his character, presented him with a piece of plate
with a suitable inscription, and gave a handsome reward
to the sailors for their bravery.

In 1742 the Tiger, of 50 guns, Captain Herbert, was
lost on a cayo near the island of Tortuga, when the crew
got on shore and saved most of their stores. They then
mounted twenty of the ship's guns for their protection,
thus saving themselves from being made prisoners by the
Spaniards, who had sent a ship, El Fuerte, of 60 guns,
for that purpose. In the attempt, however, she also got
on shore and was lost. On this cayo Captain Herbert
remained nearly two months. At length, a sloop and
schooner appeared off the spot ; Captain Herbert, pulling
off in his boats, boarded and took them, and returned in
them with his ship's company safe to Jamaica.

In 1744, the French fleet having united with that of Spain,
war was declared against France. Admiral Matthews was
at this time commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. In

214 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

an action which ensued soon afterwards, Admiral Matthews
accused his second in command, Admiral Lestock, of not
doing his duty, and sent him to England, but was himself
recalled to undergo a court-martial, the issue of which was
that he was dismissed and rendered for ever incapable of
serving his majesty. Several other officers were also tried
on various charges, some of whom were cashiered. The
sentence of several of them was considered extremely
hard, and many circumstances appearing in their favour,
his majesty was pleased to restore them to their former
rank. Courts-martial, indeed, appear to have taken place
very frequently. Discipline was often lax, and that high
tone which afterwards prevailed in the navy was apparently
greatly wanting.

An action, which, had the English been successful, would
have saved the lives and fortunes of many of the leading
Jacobites, took place in 1745. On the 9th July of that
year the Lion, a 60-gun ship of 400 men, commanded by
Captain Piercy Brett, being on a cruise, fell in with the
Elizabeth, a French ship of war, of 64 guns and 600 men,
and a small frigate, the latter having on board Prince
Charles, son of the old Pretender, and several officers of
distinction who were accompanying him in order to support
his cause in Scotland. At five o'clock in the evening the
Lion got within pistol shot of the Elizabeth, when a most
obstinate battle began, and continued with great fury till
ten, at which time the Lion had lost her mizen-mast, all
her other masts and yards being so much wounded, and
rigging and sails cut to pieces, that she became unmanage-
able. The Elizabeth not being so much crippled in her
rigging, her commander availed himself of the opportunity,
to set what sail he could, and got off. The Lion had 45 men
killed and 107 wounded. Among the latter were Captain
Brett, with all his lieutenants and the master. The Eliza-
beth had her captain and 64 men killed, and 144 wounded.
She was so much damaged that it was with difficulty she
reached Brest. The frigate pursuing her course landed
Prince Charles at Lochaber on the 27th day of July.

In order to prevent succours being sent to the rebels
from France, Admiral Vernon proceeded with a strong

CAPTURE OF TREASURE SHIPS BY PRIVATEERS. 215

squadron to tho Downs, and Rear-Admiral Byng was sent
with some ships to the coast of Scotland.

English ship-owners and merchants had sent many large
privateers of considerable force to sea, and they were
especially fortunate this year. The Prince Frederick, of
28 guns and 250 men, commanded by Captain James
Talbot, fell in off the western islands with two large
French ships with valuable cargoes, which had just re-
turned from the South Seas. After an obstinate engage-
ment they captured the Marquis D'Autin, of 400 tons,
24 guns, and 68 men ; and the Lewis Erasmus, of 500
tons, 28 guns, and 66 men. The privateers and their
prizes having been convoyed to Bristol by three men-of-
war, the treasure and plate taken out of them were put
into forty-five waggons and carried to London, when, upon a
division of the prize-money, each sailor's share amounted
to £850. The captains and crews of the privateers be-
haved with great generosity to their prisoners, allowing
them to keep their valuable effects, and when the common
men were landed, they distributed to each twenty guineas.
The proprietors, whose share amounted to £700,000, made
a voluntary tender of it to the Government to assist in
putting down the Jacobite rebellion.

Another privateer took a Spanish ship worth £400,000 ;
and another, one of £50,000 ; but a fourth, the Surprise,
commanded by Captain Redmond, was less fortunate, for
having taken a French East India ship, after an action of
six hours, with a cargo valued at £150,000, the prize, from
the number of shot in her hull, sank the next day with all
her wealth on board.

There are many instances of captains of privateers being
at once given commands in the Royal Navy. Captain
Rous in the Shirley galley, and ten more stout privateers,
having escorted a body of troops from Boston to assist in
the reduction of Louisbourg, as a reward, his majesty
directed that the privateer, which carried 24 guns, should
be purchased into the navy as a post-ship, and Captain
Rous appointed to command her.

Fortunes were very frequently rapidly made, not only
by commanders of privateers, but by captains of men-of-

216 POPULAB HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

war. Among these fortunate men was Captain Franklaud,
afterwards Admiral Thomas Frankland. When in com-
mand of the Rose, of 20 guns and 125 men, being on a
cruise off the coast of South Carolina, he fell in with
La Conception, of 20 guns and 326 men, from Carthagena
bound to Havannah ; and after a severe and obstinate
battle captured her, she having 116 killed and 40 wounded,
while he had only 5 men killed and 13 wounded. Her cargo
consisted of 800 serons of cocoa, 68 chests of silver, gold and
silver coin to a large amount, plate, a curious two-wheeled
chase, the wheels, axles, &c., all of silver, diamonds, pearls,
precious stones, and gold. So great was the quantity of
money that the shares were delivered by weight, to save the
trouble of counting it ; and when the cargo was taken out
of the ship, and she was put up for sale, the French cap-
tain, upon the promise of reward from Captain Frankland,
discovered to him 30,000 pistoles which were concealed in
a place that no one would ever have thought of looking
for them. Captain Frankland presented the French
captain with a thousand pistoles, with which he was far
from contented.

The captain also made another fortunate discovery by
means of a young French boy whom he had taken into his
service. The boy complained to him that one of the
sailors had taken from him a stick which was in appear-
ance of no value. Captain Frankland recovered it for the
boy, and on returning it gave him a tap on the shoulder,
when, hearing something rattle, he took off the head, and
found jewels (according to the Frenchman's account) worth
20,000 pistoles. When the captain surrendered, he had
given this stick to the boy in the hopes of saving it, not
imagining sucli a trifle would be ever noticed.

That year 531 prizes were taken from the Spainards
and French, but the English lost very nearly as many,
though their vessels were smaller and of much less value.

Mr. William Brown, master of the Shoreham, having
been placed by Captain Osborne in command of a small
privateer of 2 guns and 12 swivels, captured a Spanish
privateer of 10 guns and 18 swivels ; and shortly after-
wards another of 5 guns and 32 men; and was for his.

COSTUME OF THE ROYAL NAVY. 217

gallantry promoted by the Lords of the Admiralty to tlve
command of a sloop of war.

Among the gallant deeds performed at this time, an
action fought by the Fame, a privateer belonging to
Liverpool, aiid commanded by Captain Fortunatus Wright,
deserves to be recorded. While on a cruise in the Levant,
she encountered sixteen French ships, one of them mount-
ing 20 guns, with 150 men, fitted out expressly for the
purpose of taking her. They engaged her furiously for
three hours off the island of Cyprus, when the large ship
was run ashore and her crew fled up the country. The
Fame's crew then boarded and brought her off.

By an Act of Parliament passed this year, every ship in
Great Britain or his majesty's plantations in North America
was compelled on first going to sea to be furnished with a
complete suit of sails, made of sail-cloth manufactured in
Great Britain, under a penalty of fifty pounds. It was
also enacted that every sail-maker in Britain or the
plantations shall on every new sail affix in letters and words
at length his name and place of abode, under a penalty of
ten pounds.

By an order in council dated the 10th of February, 1747,
established rank was first given to the officers in the Royal
Navy, and a uniform clothing appointed to be worn by
admirals, captains, lieutenants, and midshipmen. Hitherto
they had dressed much as suited their fancy. The crew of
a man-of-war must have looked more like a band of pirates
than a well-ordered ship's company of the present day.
Even in later days midshipmen sometimes appeared on the
deck of a man-of-war in rather extraordinary costume, as
the following account, taken from the journal of an old
admiral, will show.

"As we midshipmen met on board the cutter which
was to carry us to Plymouth, we were not, I will allow,
altogether satisfied with our personal appearance, and still
less so when we stepped on the quarter-deck of the seventy-
four, commanded by one of the proudest and most punc-
tilious men in the service, surrounded by a body of well-
dressed, dashing-looking officers. Tom Peard first advanced
as chief and oldest of our gang, with a bob-wig on his

218 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

head, surmounted by a high hat bound by narrow gold
lace, white lapels to his coat, a white waistcoat, and light
blue inexpressibles with midshipman's buttons. By his
side hung a large brass-mounted hanger, while his legs
were encased in a huge pair of waterproof boots. I
followed next, habited in a coat ' all sides radius,' as old
Allen, my schoolmaster, would have said, the skirt actually
sweeping the deck, and so wide that it would button down
to the very bottom — my white cuffs reaching half-way up
the arm to the elbow. My waistcoat, which was of the
same snowy hue, reached to my knees, but was fortunately
concealed from sight by the ample folds of my coat, as
were also my small clothes. I had on white-thread stock-
ings, high shoes and buckles, and a plain cocked hat, a
prodigiously long silver-handled sword completing my
costume. Dick Martingall's and Tom Painter's dresses
were not much less out of order, giving them more the
appearance of gentlemen of the highway than of naval
officers of respectability. One had a large brass sword,
once belonging to his great-grandfather, a trooper in the
army of the Prince of Orange, the other a green-handled
hanger, which had done service with Sir Cloudsley
Shovel." The writer and his friends had to beat a precipi-
tate retreat from the Torbay, as, with a stamp of his foot,
their future captain ordered them to begone, and instantly
get cut down and reduced into ordinary proportions by the
Plymouth tailors. This description refers to some thirty
years later than the time we are speaking of. The tailor
had taken his models, the writer observes, from the days
of Benbow ; or rather, perhaps, from the costumes of those
groups who go about at Christmas time enacting plays in
the halls of the gentry and nobility, and are called by the
west-country folks " geese-dancers."

Vice-Admiral Anson, who had returned from his voy-
age to the Pacific, was now placed in command of a
powerful fleet, and sent to cruise on the coast of France.
He and Rear-Admiral Warren sailed from Plymouth on
the 9th of April to intercept the French fleet, with which
it fell in on the 3rd of May off Cape Finisterre, convoying
a laro-e number of merchantmen. Admiral Anson had

CAPTURE OF FRENCH FLEET BY ADMIRAL ANSON. 219

made the signal to form lino of battle, when Roar-Admiral
Warren, suspecting the enemy to be merely manceuvering
to favour the escape of the convoy, bore down and com-
municated his opinion to the admiral, who thereon threw
out a signal for a general chase. The Centurion, under a
press of sail, was the first to come up with the rearmost
French ship, which she attacked in so gallant a manner
that two others dropped astern to her support. Three
more English ships coming up, the action became general.
The French, though much inferior in numbers, fought with
great spirit till seven in the evening, when all their ships
were taken, as well as nine sail of East India ships. The
enemy lost 700 men, killed and wounded, and the British
250. Among the latter was Captain Grenville of the Defi-
ance, to whom a monument was erected by his uncle, Lord
Cobham, in his gardens at Stowe. Upwards of £300,000
were found on board the ships of war, which were conveyed
in twenty waggons by a military escort to London.

So pleased was the king with this action that, after com-
plimenting Admiral Anson, he was created a peer of Great
Britain, and Rear- Admiral Warren was honoured with the
order of the Bath.

A sad accident occurred shortly afterwards in an action
off the Azores, when the Dartmouth, Captain Hamilton, of
50 guns, while engaging for some hours the Glorioso, a
Spanish ship of 74 guns and 750 men, caught fire and
blew up, every soul with her brave commander perishing,
except Lieutenant O'Bryan and eleven seamen, who were
saved by the boats of a privateer in company. The
Dartmouth's consort, the Russell, pursuing the Spaniard,
captured her after a warm engagement.

As an encouragement and relief to disabled and wounded
seamen in the merchant-service, an Act of Parliament was
passed in this year authorising the masters of merchant-
vessels to detain sixpence per month from the wages of
seamen. It was extended also to the widows and chil-
dren of such seamen as should be killed or drowned.
A corporation was established for the management of
this fund.

Admiral Hawke, in command of another squadron, was

220 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

equally successful, having captured in one action no less
than six large French ships.

The war terminated at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in
1748. The total number of ships taken from the French
and Spaniards amounted in all to 3434, while the entire
loss of English merchant-vessels amounted to 3238.

In 1744 Admiral Sir John Balchen, whose flag was
flying on board the Victory, was returning from Gibraltar,
when, having reached the channel on the 3rd of October,
the fleet was overtaken by a violent storm. The Exeter,
one of the squadron, lost her main and mizen-mast, and it
became necessary to throw twelve of her guns overboard to
prevent her from sinking, while other ships suffered much.
On the 4th the Victory separated from the fleet, and was
never more heard of. She had on board nearly a thousand
men, besides fifty volunteers, sons of the first nobility and
gentry in the kingdom. It is supposed that she struck
upon a ridge of rocks off the Caskets, as from the testi-
mony of the men who attended the light, and the
inhabitants of the island of Alderney, minute-guns were
heard on the nights of the 4th and 5th, but the weather
was too tempestuous to allow boats to go out to her assist-
ance. The king settled a pension of £500 per annum on
Sir John Balchen's widow.

As an example of the danger those on board fire-ships
ran, a fearful accident which happened to one of them
must be mentioned. While the fleet of Admiral Matthews
was engaged with the Spaniards in the Mediterranean, he
ordered the Anne galley fire-ship, commanded by Captain
Mackay, to go down and burn the Real. In obedience to
his orders, that brave officer approached the Spanish
admiral. Notwithstanding the heavy fire opened on
his vessel, he ordered all his people off the deck, and
boldly steered the fire-ship, with a match in his hand. As
he approached, he found that the enemy's shot had such
an effect that his ship was fast sinking ; at the same time,
observing a large Spanish launch rowing towards him, he
opened fire on her with his guns, when, on a sudden, the
fire-ship appeared in a blaze, and almost immediately blew
up, but at a distance too great either to grapple or damage

LIEUT. PHILLIPS SHOT FOR SURRENDERING HIS SHIP. 221

the Real. The gallant commander, with his lieutenant,
gunner, mate, and two quartermasters, perished.

The Admiralty at this time appear to have considered
that the best way of inducing naval officers to perform
their duty was to shoot or otherwise severely punish them
if they did not. On the 22nd of April, 1745, the Angle-
sea, of 40 guns and 250 men, commanded by Captain
Jacob Elton, fell in with a French privateer of 50 guns
and 500 men. After a severe action, in which the com-
mander and his first lieutenant were killed, the ship being
much disabled, and above sixty of her crew killed or
wounded, Mr. Barker Phillips, her second lieutenant, who
succeeded to the command, surrendered her to the
enemy. On his return to England, he was tried by a
court-martial, and sentenced to be shot, which sentence
was carried into execution on board the Princess Royal
at Spithead.

The war again broke out in 1755, when information
being received that the French were preparing a fleet of
men-of-war to sail from different ports, the ministry im-
mediately equipped a squadron, the command of which
was given to Admiral Boscawen, who was ordered to pro-
ceed to North America. The first ships taken during the
war were by the Dunkirk, Captain Howe, who after an
engagement of five hours captured the Alcide and Lys,
part of the squadron of M. de la Motte.

A fleet of ten ships, under the command of Admiral
Byng, was sent out to the Mediterranean. With his squad-
ron but imperfectly manned, he sailed from Spithead on
the 7th of April. When off Minorca, then held by the
English, and besieged by the Spaniards, a French fleet
appeared in sight. The next day, the weather being hazy,
the French fleet was not seen till noon, when Admiral Byng
threw out an order to Bear- Admiral West to engage them,
but he being at a distance did not understand these orders.
He, however, with his whole division bearing away seven
points, came up with the enemy, and attacked them with
such impetuosity that several of their ships were soon
obliged to quit the line. Byng's division not advancing,
Admiral West was prevented from pursuing his advantage

222 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

for fear of being separated from the rest of the fleet, which,
from unskilful manoeuvring, gave the enemy time to escape.
On his arrival at Gibraltar the unfortunate Admiral Byng
found that commissioners had arrived to arrest him and
Admiral West, who were accordingly sent prisoners to
England. Sir Edward Hawke, who had brought out
reinforcements, immediately sailed up the Mediterranean,
but on arriving off Minorca, to his mortification, saw the
French flag flying from the Castle of San Felipe. The
French fleet took shelter in Toulon, while Sir Edward
Hawke had the command of the Mediterranean. The fall
of Minorca caused the greatest dissatisfaction in England,
and though undoubtedly the ministry were to blame for
not having sent more troops to Minorca, and given Byng a
larger fleet, he committed an error in not taking greater
pains to engage the French fleet. A court-martial pro-
nounced him guilty of a breach of the twelfth article of
war, and condemned him to death. He was accordingly,
on the 14th of March, shot on board the Monarch, in
Portsmouth harbour — a sacrifice to popular clamour. The
court which condemned him, however, declared that his
misconduct did not proceed from want of courage or dis-
affection, and added to their report of their proceedings a
petition to the Lords of the Admiralty requesting their
lordships most earnestly to recommend him to his
majesty's clemency. The Government, however, having
resolved on his death, allowed the law to take its course.
The president of the court-martial was Vice-Ad miral
Thomas Smith, generally known in the service by the
name of Tom of Ten Thousand. When he was lieutenant
on board the Gosport in Plymouth Sound, and her captain
on shore, Mr. Smith directed a shot to be fired at a French
frigate which, on passing, had neglected to pay the usual
compliment to the flag. The Frenchman considering this
as an insult offered to his flag, lodged a complaint against
Mr. Smith, who was tried by a court-martial and dismissed
the service. His spirited conduct was, however, so much
approved of by the nation, that he was promoted at once
to the rank of post-captain.

In 1749 an Act of Parliament was passed authorising

DUELS BETWEEN NAVAL OFFICERS. 223

the Admiralty to grant commissions to flag-officers or any
other officer commanding his majesty's fleet or squadron
of ships of war, to call and assemble courts-martial in
foreign parts.

The sudden possession of wealth by the capture of prizes
had undoubtedly a deteriorating effect on the minds of
many officers of the navy. We may understand the dis-
appointment which was felt by those serving under Admiral
Knowles, who was cruising off the Havannah to intercept
the expected Plate fleet, when aSpanish advice-boat brought
into the squadron informed the admiral that the prelimi-
nary articles for a general peace were signed. The unplea-
sant news caused a general dejection throughout the whole
squadron. Dissensions among the officers had for some
time before prevailed, and these at length terminated in
various courts-martial. It was probably this lust of
wealth which induced the officers of the Chesterfield, of 40
guns, commanded by Captain O'Brien Dudley, when oft'
Cape Coast Castle, to mutiny. Samuel Couchman, the
first lieutenant, John Morgan, the lieutenant of marines,
Thomas Knight, the carpenter, were the ringleaders. They
managed to seize the ship and carry her to sea while the
captain and some others were on shore. By the spirited
conduct of Mr. Gastrien, the boatswain, and Messrs. Gillan
and Fraser, she was retaken from the mutineers thirty
hours afterwards, and ultimately brought safe to Ports-
mouth, where the mutineers being tried, two of the prin-
cipal officers were shot on board their ship. The four
others and one seaman were hanged.

The animosity which had existed among the captains of
the West India squadron was carried to serious lengths,
and resulted in several duels, one of which was fought
between Captains Clarke and Innes, in Hyde Park, when
the latter was killed. Captain Clarke was tried, and
received sentence of death, but his majesty granted him
a free pardon. Another duel was fought between Admiral
Knowles and Captain Holmes. After they had discharged
two or three shots at each other, the seconds interfered,
and they were reconciled. The king being informed that
four more challenges had been sent to the admiral, ordered

224 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

three of the officers to be taken into custody, which put ail
end to all further dissensions.

In 1753 an Act was passed to render more effectual the
Act of the 12th of Queen Anne, for providing a public
reward for such person or persons as should discover the
longitude at sea.

In 1756 the Marine Society was instituted, owing to the
patriotic zeal of the merchants of London, who entered into
a liberal subscription to clothe and educate orphans or
deserted and friendless boys to serve in the Royal Navy.
It has proved of great advantage to the navy. In June,
1772, it was incorporated, and is governed by a president
and six vice-presidents.

Among the most desperate engagements fought at this
period the exploit of the Terrible privateer, commanded
by Captain Death, deserves to be recorded. She carried
26 guns and 200 men. When on a cruise, she fell in with
the Grand Alexander, from St. Domingo, of 22 guns
and 100 men, when, after an action of two hours, she cap-
tured her. Both vessels were considerably damaged ; the
Terrible had a lieutenant and sixteen men killed. While
conducting her prize to England, and ill-prepared for a
second engagement, she fell in with the Vengeance privateer,
belonging to St. Malo, of 36 guns and 360 men. The
enemy having retaken the prize, manned her, and together
bore down on the Terrible. Captain Death defended his
ship with the greatest bravery against so unequal a force,
but at length, he and half his crew being killed and most
of the survivors badly wounded, the masts being shot away,
she was compelled to strike. The enemy's ship was also a
complete wreck ; her first and second captains were killed,
with two-thirds of her crew. The merchants of London,
as a testimony of their high sense of the gallant behaviour
of Captain Death and his brave crew, opened a subscription
at Lloyd's coffee-house for the benefit of his widow; for
the widows of the brave fellows who lost their lives with
him, and for that part of the crew who survived the en-
gagement.

Captain Fortunatus Wright, who had before been so
successful in the Mediterranean, was now in command of

A FORT CAPTURED BY STRACHAN, A SEAMAfc. 225

the St. George privateer cruising in the same sea. He had
first a desperate battle with a French privateer twice his
size, which he beat off, and then proceeded to Leghorn,
where he was thrown into prison by the Austrian govern-
ment. Admiral Hawke, on hearing of it, sent two ships to
demand his immediate release. This request was complied
with. Shortly afterwards the St. George was overtaken by
a furious storm, in which she foundered, her brave com-
mander and crew perishing.

At this time, while Lord Olive was, by a series of victories,
laying the foundation of the British Empire in the east,
Admiral Watson commanded in the Indian seas. To assist
the army the squadron entered the Hooghly, when a body
of seamen was landed to attack the fort of Boujee. By a
singular event it was carried without bloodshed. A seaman
by the name of Strachan, belonging to the Kent, having
drunk too much grog, strayed under the walls of the fort
in the dead of night, and observing a breach, entered at it,
giving loud huzzas. This alarmed some more of his com-
rades, who had also strayed the same way. They instantly
mounted the breach, and drove the Indian garrison from
the works. By this time the whole camp and squadron
were alarmed, and the troops, flying to the fort, entered and
gained possession of it without the loss of a man. After
everything was quiet, Admiral Watson sent for Strachan
to admonish him for his temerity, and addressing him,
observed, "Strachan, what is this you have been doing?"
The untutored hero, after having made his bow, scratching
his head with one hand and twirling his hat with the other,
replied, " Why, to be sure, sir, it was I who took the fort,
but I hope there was no harm in it." The admiral then
pointed out to him the dreadful consequences that might
have resulted from so rash an act, and insinuated as he left
the cabin that he should be punished. Strachan, highly
disappointed at this rebuke from the admiral when he
thought himself entitled to applause, muttered as he was
leaving the cabin, " If I'm flogged for this here action, I'll
never take another fort as long as I live."

A gallant action fought in the West Indies, in the year
1757, is worthy of note. Admiral Cotes, commander-in-

226 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

chief on the station, despatched Captain Arthur Forrest, of
the 60-gun ship Augusta, with the Edinburgh, Captain
Langdon, of 60 guns, and the Dreadnought, Captain
Maurice Suckling, of 60 guns, to cruise off Cape Francois,
where the French were assembling a fleet of merchant-
vessels for Europe. The French squadron consisted of two
seventy-fours, one sixty-four, one fifty, one forty-four, and
two of thirty-two guns. On the 21st of October, early in the
morning, the Dreadnought made the signal for the enemy.
On this, Captain Forrest summoned his captains, and on
their arrival on the Augusta's quarter-deck, he observed,
"Well, gentlemen, you see they are come out to engage us."
On this, Captain Suckling replied, " I think it would be a
pity to disappoint them." Captain Langdon being of the
same opinion, the signal was thrown out to make all sail
to close the enemy. So admirably were the three ships
manoeuvred, and so well were their guns fought, that one
of the enemy's ships was dismasted and the whole fleet
much disabled, with the loss of nearly 600 men killed and
wounded, when they made sail to leeward. The British
ships were so much cut up in their sails and rigging that it
was impossible to follow. The Dreadnought had lost 9
killed, 20 dangerously and 10 slightly wounded, while every
yard and mast was greatly injured. Shortly afterwards,
Captain Forrest captured a French convoy consisting of
9 ships, carrying 112 guns and 415 men.

Among the many dashing officers of those days was
Captain Gilchrist. When in command of the Southamp-
ton, of 32 guns and 220 men, he was on his way from
Portsmouth to Plymouth, with money to pay the dockyard
artificers. Being attacked at eleven at night, off St. Alban's
Head, by five French privateers, two of them of equal force,
he compelled them, after an action of two hours, to sheer
off; his vessel being a perfect wreck, with several shot be-
tween wind and water, and ten men killed, and fourteen
mortally wounded. The following September, when look-
ing into Brest, a French ship came out, for which he waited.
He reserved his fire till he got within twenty.yards of her.
when a most furious engagement began ; the ships falling
on board of each other. The enemy made an attempt to

CAPTURE OF THE " FOUDROYANT." 227

board the Southampton, but being vigorously repulsed, in
a quarter of an hour after struck, and proved to be the
Emeraude, a French frigate of 28 guns and 245 men, 60 of
whom were either killed or wounded. The action was
fought at such close quarters that the men used their hand-
spikes, and two of the officers were killed by a discharge
from Captain Gilchrist's own blunderbuss. The South-
ampton nad her second lieutenant and 19 men killed, and
every officer except the captain, and 28 wounded. While
conducting her prize into port, the Southampton captured
an 18-gun privateer belonging to Dunkirk.

Among the worst ships in the service at that time were
the two-deck 40 and 50 gun ships, for when any heavy
sea was running, they were unable to open their lower-
deck ports, and were thus of even less force than vessels
carrying only 20 guns. Numerous instances of this
occurred, and among others the Antelope, of 50 guns,
Captain Thomas Saumarez, fell in with a French privateer
of 22 guns. The Antelope being unable at the time to
open her lower-deck ports in consequence of the heavy sea,
it took her two hours to capture the privateer, which even
then would probably hare got off, had not her mizen-mast
been shot away.

An action, celebrated in naval song, was that between
the Monmouth, of 64 guns, commanded by Captain Gardiner,
and the Foudroyant, of 84 guns. Captain Gardiner had
been flag-captain to Admiral Byng in the action off Minorca,
in which the Foudroyant bore the French admiral's flag,
and he had declared that if he should ever fall in with the
Foudroyant he would attack her at all hazards, though he
should perish in the encounter. In company with the
Monmouth were the Swiftsure, 74, and the Hampton-
court, 64 ; but the Monmouth soon ran her consorts out
of sight, and at 8 P.M., getting up with the chase, com-
menced the action. Among the first wounded was the
captain, but it being in the arm, he refused to go below.
He soon knocked away some of the Foudroyant's spars,
and then carried his ship close under her starboard quarter,
where for four hours the Monmouth maintained the
unequal contest. At 9 P.M. the gallant Gardiner was

228 POPtJLAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

mortally wounded in the forehead by a musket-ball, when
Lieutenant Robert Carket took command. Shortly after-
wards the Monmouths mizen-mast was shot away, on
which the French crew cheered ; but the Foudroyant's
mizen-mast sharing the same fate, the British seamen
returned the compliment, and in a little time down came
the French ship's main-mast. Still, she continued working
her guns till some time after the arrival of the Swiftsure,
when she surrendered. Her captain presented his sword
to Lieutenant Carket, thus acknowledging that he was
captured by the Monmouth. To understand the disparity
between the two ships, their comparative broadside weight
of metal should be known. That of the Monmouth was
540 pounds, that of the Foudroyant was 1136 pounds.
The Foudroyant, which was taken into the service, was
looked upon for many years as the finest ship in the
British Navy. She exceeded by twelve feet in length the
Cheater British first-rate, and measured 1977 tons. All
her guns abaft the main-mast were of brass. Lieutenant
Carket was deservedly promoted to command her.

We must pass over one of the most memorable events
of this reign, the capture of Quebec by General Wolfe, in
which Captain Cook, then a master in the navy, first
exhibited his talents and courage, and briefly describe an
important naval action, that of Sir Edward Hawke in
Quiberon Bay. The admiral sailed from Spithead early in
June, 1759, with a powerful fleet to cruise off Brest and
in soundings. Hence he despatched three small squad-
rons to scour the enemy's coast. In November a heavy
gale compelled Sir Edward Hawke to take shelter in
Torbay. During his absence M. de Conflans got safe into
Brest with his squadron from the West Indies. Believing
that the coast was clear, he again put to sea on the 14th of
November, and on the same day the British fleet sailed
from Torbay. The next day Captain M'Cleverty, in the
Gibraltar, joined Sir Edward, with the information that
he had seen the French fleet about twenty-four leagues to
the north-west of Belleisle, steering to the south-east. Sir
Edward immediately shaped a course for Quiberon Bay.
A strong wind forced the fleet to leeward ; it shifted, how-

FRENCH IN QUIBERON BAY DEFEATED BY HAWKE. 220

ever, on the 19th to the westward. The Maidstonc and
Coventry frigates were ordered to look out ahead. The
French acjmiral seeing them, sent some of his ships in
chase, but soon after perceiving the British fleet, he recalled
them, and formed in order of battle. On the approach of
the British ships he crowded sail and pushed in for the
land, not more than four or -five leaguesi distant, in the
hopes of entangling them among the rocks and shoals.
In this he was disappointed, as the van ships of the English
fleet were close up to his rear at half-past two o'clock, and
in a few minutes the engagement became general. The
Formidable, carrying the flag of the French rear-admiral,
was closely engaged by the Resolution, and having to
sustain the fire of every ship that passed, was obliged to
strike, he and 200 of his men being killed. Lord Howe,
in the Magnanime attacked the The"see, but the Montague
running foul of the former so much disabled her, that she
fell astern. Captain Keppel, in the Torbay, then attacked
the The'se'e, when a sudden squall coming on, the lower-
deck ports of the latter ship not being closed, she filled
and instantly sank. The Superbe shared a similar fate
alongside of the Royal George. Lord Howe having got
clear, bore down and attacked the Hero so furiously that
he soon compelled her to strike. During the night, which
proved very boisterous, she drove on shore and was lost.
The enemy then endeavoured to make their escape ; some
succeeded, but several got ashore, as did the Essex and
Resolution, but their crews were saved. The French
admiral's ship, the Soleil Royal, had in the dark anchored
in the midst of the British fleet, on discovering which he
cut his cable, when he drove ashore. On the weather
moderating the boats of the squadron were sent in to
destroy the French ships. The Soleil Royal was set on
fire by her own crew, and the Hero by the British boats.
La Juste, of 70 guns, was also wrecked, but seven of the
French ships, by throwing overboard their guns and stores,
escaped into the river Villaine.

The remnant of this fleet, under M. de Thurot, a cele-
brated privateer commander, escaped out of Dunkirk for
the purpose of making a descent on the northern coast of

230 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

England or Ireland. After taking shelter during the winter
on the coast of Norway, he appeared with three frigates
before the town of Carrickfergus, which he attacked and
laid under contribution. Having supplied his ships with
such necessaries as they were in need of, he re-embarked
his men and took his departure. At that time Captain
John Elliot, who was lying at Kinsale in the JEolus, with
the Pallas and Brilliant under his command, on hearing
that M. de Thurot was on the coast, put to sea, and
fortunately came up with him off the Isle of Man. A close
action was maintained for an hour and a-half, when the
gallant Thurot and a large number of his men being
killed, the three frigates struck their colours. His own
ship, the Marechal Belleisle, was so shattered that it was
with difficulty she could be kept afloat. La Blonde and
Terpsichore were added to the British Navy.

The French at this time built a number of vessels on a
new construction, to which they gave the name of prames.
They were about a hundred feet long, quite flat-bottomed,
and capable of carrying four or five hundred men. They
were to be employed in transporting troops over for the
invasion of England. Admiral Rodney fell in with and
destroyed a number of them off Havre-de-Grace.

During this year the French took 330 ships from the
English, whereas the English took only 110 from the
French. In reality, however, the gain was on the side of
Great Britain, the French ships captured being chiefly
large privateers and rich armed merchantmen, while those
England lost were mostly coasters and colliers. The trade
of France, also, was almost annihilated, and she in conse-
quence employed the greater part of her seamen in small
privateers, which swarmed in the channel, the vessels
they captured being of like value.

George the Second had the satisfaction of seeing the
arms of England everywhere prospering, when on the 27th
of October, 1760, he breathed his last, in the thirty-third
year of his reign and the seventy-seventh of his age.

Gallant as were the officers and brave as were the men
of the navy, they were generally rough in their manners,
and ignorant 'of all matters not connected with their pro-

THE NAVY AT THE END OF GEO11OE II.'s ItKIQN. 231

fession. So they continued for many years, till the naval
college was established, and schoolmasters were placed on
board ships to afford the midshipmen instruction. It could
scarcely have been otherwise, considering the early age at
which young gentlemen were sent to sea, when they had
had barely time to learn more than reading, writing, and
arithmetic, while comparatively few had afterwards time
or opportunity to improve themselves. Practices were
allowed on board ship which would not have been tolerated
in Elizabeth's days.

CHAPTER XIV.

Cjnttr.

(FROM A.D. 1760 TO A.D. 1782.)

N George the Third coming to the throne in
1760 he found the nation still at war with
France.

Among the gallant men actively employed
at this time, whose names were long as house-
hold words both in the navy and on shore, were Lord
Anson, Sir Edward Hawke, Admiral Rodney, Captain
Alexander Hood, Commodore Keppell, Captain Faulkner,
Captain the Honourable Keith Stuart, Captain Richard
Howe, afterwards Earl Howe, Captains Shuldham, Sir
Hugh Palliser, the Honourable John Byron, Peter Parker,
and Samuel Barrington.

The fleets of England were at this time distributed
much, as at the present time, under flag-officers. The
Nore, the Channel Fleet, the Mediterranean, Lisbon, North
America, Newfoundland, the West Indies, the Leeward
Islands, Jamaica, the East Indies, and occasionally on the
coast of Africa.

We have numerous proofs that British seamen gained

their victories as much by their proficiency in gunnery and

their activity as by their strength and courage. Of this

there are numberless instances, among others the following.

In 1761, on the evening of the 13th of August, the

Bellona, of 74 guns, and a crew of 550 men, Captain

Robert Faulkner, and the Brilliant, a 36-gun frigate,

Captain James Logie, on their passage from Lisbon to

England, being off Vigo, came in sight of three large ships.

232

CAPTURE OF "COURAGEUX " BY CAPTAIN FAULKNER. 233

The strangers were the French 74-gun ship Courageux, of
700 men, and the 36-gun frigates Hermione and Malici-
euse. In consequence of seeing the British ships through
the magnifying medium of a hazy atmosphere, they con-
cluded that they were both line of battle ships, and dread-
ing the issue of an engagement, took to flight. Captain
Faulkner on this, suspecting them to be enemies, imme-
diately made sail in chase, and kept them in sight all
night. At daylight the next morning he and his consort
were about five miles from the two ships, when the largest,
throwing out a signal, took in her studding-sail, wore
round, and stood for the Bellona, The two frigates at the
same time closed, and at six brought the Brilliant to
action. Captain Logie determined to find so much for
them to do that the Bellona should have the Courageux
to herself. So vigorously did he work his guns that the
frigates received such injury in their sails and rigging as to
be compelled to sheer off to repair damages. As the water
was smooth and a light wind only blowing, the contest
become one of simple gunnery. At half-past six the
Bellona was closely engaged with the French 74. In nine
minutes both their mizen-masts fell overboard, while the
Bellona' s braces, shrouds, and rigging were much cut up.
Captain Faulkner, fearing that the enemy would seize the
opportunity to sheer off, gave orders for immediately
boarding, but the Courageux, falling athwart the bow of
his ship, rendered this impracticable. The Bellona might
now have been seriously raked fore and aft, but Captain
Faulkner immediately set all his studding-sails to wear
the ship round, when the crew flew to their guns on the
side now opposed to the enemy, from which they fired
away with so much rapidity for twenty minutes as almost
to knock the Courageux to pieces, while the two frigates
were unable, in consequence of the gallant way in which
they were kept at bay by Captain Logie, to render her
any assistance. Unable to withstand this unremitting
fire, the Courageux hauled down her colours, her crew
crying for quarter. The two frigates on this bore away
and got off. Considerable as was the damage done to the
Bellona in her rigging, she had suffered very little in the

234 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

hull, and had lost only 6 killed and 25 wounded; while
the Courageux had her foremost and bowsprit alone stand-
ing, her decks torn up in several places, and large breaches
made in her sides ; 220 of her men being killed, and half
that number wounded, among whom was her captain,
Dugue" L'Ambert. The Brilliant lost her master and 5
men killed and 16 wounded. The Courageux had on
board £8500 in specie. She was carried by her captor
into Lisbon to be refitted, and was added to the British
Navy under the same name. Proverbially thoughtless as
are British seamen, they have ever shown themselves
equally kind and generous to those in distress. On this
occasion the French crew being found destitute of means
for their support when at Lisbon, a subscription was raised
on board the Bellona and Brilliant, as well as among the
merchants on shore, to enable them to return to France.

Still further improvements being made in Mr. Harrison's
timekeeper for finding the longitude at sea, the Deptford,
of 50 guns, was sent out with the inventor on board. She
made the island of Maderia at the exact time which he
pointed out, and from thence proceeded to Jamaica, mak-
ing that island with equal accuracy. On his return he
found that the instrument had lost only 1 minute, 54|
seconds.

This year also the experiment for coppering ships'
bottoms as a preservation against worms was introduced
into the Royal Navy, and tried on the Alarm frigate, of
32 guns.

Another act of humanity deserves to be recorded. In
November, 1762, Captain Clarke, commanding the Sheer-
ness, of 24 guns, being closely pursued by five French
ships of war, took refuge in the neutral bay of Villa Franca.
One of the enemy's ships, La Minerve, continued the
pursuit, and by way of bravado running in between the
Sheerness and the land, attempted to anchor. In doing
this she was driven on the rocks, and the sea running high
was soon dashed to pieces. On this, although the other
four ships were approaching, Captain Clarke, with much
humanity, sent in his boats, and saved the greater part of
her crew, twenty-five only perishing, although the whole

VALUABLE PRIZES TAKEN. 235

would otherwise have been lost. Struck by this generous
•act, the French commodore went on board the Sheerness
to thank Captain Clarke for the relief he had offered his
distressed countrymen.

To the credit of the Spaniards, it must be told how they
on another occasion exhibited much good-feeling. Two
ships, the Lord Clive and Ambuscade, had been sent
out to attack the Spanish settlements on the River
Plate in South America. During the action the first
blew up ; her commander, and the whole crew, excepting
seventy-eight, perishing. They, escaping the flames, swam
to the shore, when instead of being looked upon as enemies
who came to plunder the settlement, the Spaniards treated
them with the greatest tenderness, and furnished them
with clothes and every necessary refreshment.

On the 6th of June, 1762, Lord Anson died, and was
succeeded as First Lord of the Admiralty by the Earl of
Halifax.

The king's ships were especially fortunate in their
captures this year. In the Mediterranean a rich Spanish
ship from Barcelona, with 100,000 dollars on board, was
taken; and the Active frigate, Captain Sawyer, and the
Favourite sloop of war, Captain Pownall, while on a cruise
off Cadiz, captured the Hermione, a large Spanish register
ship from Lima. She was the richest prize made during
the war, the net proceeds of her cargo amounting to
£519,705, 10s. The admiral received £64,000 ; the cap-
tain of the Active, £65,000 ; three commissioned officers of
that ship, £13,800 each; eight warrant officers, £4000
each ; twenty petty officers, £1800 each ; and each seaman
and marine, £485. The officers and crew of the Favourite
received in the same proportion. On arriving at Ports-
mouth the treasure was sent up to London in twenty
waggons, decorated with the British colours flying over
those of Spain, and escorted by a party of seamen. At
Hyde Park corner they were joined by a troop of light
horse, and proceeded through the city, amidst the acclama-
tions of the people, to the Tower.

The Seven Years' War with France and Spain was
now brought to a conclusion, arid peace was signed at

236 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Fontainebleau on the 3rd of November. England was
now possessed of the most powerful fleet in the world,
while her resources were comparatively undiminished. By
means chiefly of her navy, she had gained the whole of the
provinces of Canada, the islands of St. John and Cape
Breton, the navigation of the river Mississippi, and that
part of Louisiana which lies on the east of that river, the
town of New Orleans excepted, permission to cut logwood
and to build houses in the Bay of Honduras, and the
province of Florida — though she had to restore the
Havannah and its dependencies to Spain, as well as
Martinico, Guadaloupe, Marie Galante, and St. Lucia to
France — while she was to retain the Grenadas and Grena-
dines, with the neutral islands of Dominica, St. Vincent,
and Tobago. In Europe she regained the island of Minorca
and gave up that of Belleisle. In Africa she retained
Senegal and restored Gore*e. In Asia all her conquests
made from France were restored, with the restriction that
France was not to erect fortifications in the province of
Bengal, and the fortifications of Dunkirk were to be
demolished.

Popular as had been the war, Parliament had only
voted 70,000 men for the navy, though in order that
each ship should have had her full complement, fully
85,000 men would have been required. Many ships,
indeed, went to sea imperfectly manned; the proper
number of the crews being often made up of men sent
from the jails, and landsmen carried off by the press-
gangs. The ships themselves were also of a very inferior
character.

Up to this time all 80-gun ships were three-deckers,
but after 1759 no more were built. The building also of
70 and 60 gun ships was discontinued about the same
period. The finest ships were those taken from the French
and added to the Royal Navy. The first English 80-gun
ship on two decks was the Ccesar, launched in 1793.

The Marine Society at the peace came to the resolution
of receiving and making provision for all boys under sixteen
years of age who had been, or might be, discharged from
his majesty's service, by putting them out apprentices in

iJVRON'S VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC. 237

the merchant-service. 295 boys made application for
employment, and were provided for.

A body of sailors presented a petition to the king re-
questing to have the D's, placed against their names for
deserter, taken off. His majesty granted the request to
all who had again entered on board a king's ship.

It appears that the whole number of seamen and marines
employed during the war amounted to 184,893. Of these,
only 1512 had been killed in action or by accident, while
133,700 had either died by sickness or were missing —
probably, had deserted. Thus, on the books of the Navy
Office but 49,673 remained. Of these, all except 16,000
were paid off at the peace. To pay them, Parliament
granted £832,000; to pay the officers, including those on
half-pay, £398,000.

In 1764 Mr. Harrison's chronometer was again tried on
board the Tartar frigate, commanded by Captain John
Lindsay, who reported most favourably on it.

This year the officers of his majesty's navy were
directed to act as custom-house officers on the coast of
America, as well as in the British Channel, but, from the
complaints made, the Admiralty released them from a
service which they considered as degrading to their
situation.

On the 3rd of July his majesty's ship Dolphin, of 20
guns, commanded by the Honourable John Byron, and the
Tamer sloop of war, 14 guns, Captain Mouat, sailed from
Plymouth on a voyage of discovery. On her return in
1766 the Dolphin was again despatched, under the com-
mand of Captain Samuel Wallis, and the Swallow sloop
of war, Captain Carteret, was ordered to accompany her
till she should have got through the Straits of Magellan.

In 1768 a pump, invented by Mr. Coles in 1764, was
tried on board the Seaford frigate in Portsmouth harbour,
and it was found that with four men it pumped out a ton
of water in 43 £ seconds ; with two men, in 55 seconds ;
and when choked with shingle ballast, it was cleared in
4 minutes : while the old pump, with seven men, pumped
out one ton of water in 76 seconds.

Early this year the Royal Society presented a memorial

238 POPULAR fflSTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to his majesty, expressing a wish that proper vessels might
be appointed to sail to the southward to observe the
transit of Venus over the disc of the sun. The Admiralty
accordingly, for this service, purchased the Endeavour
barque, and placed her under the command of Lieu-
tenant James Cook. Mr. Charles Green was appointed
astronomer, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander embarked
on board her.

In the month of June, 1769, a French frigate having
anchored in the Downs without paying the usual compli-
ment to the British flag, Captain John Hollwell, the senior
officer there, in the Apollo frigate, sent on board to demand
the customary salute. The French captain refused to
comply, upon which Captain Hollwell ordered the Hawke
sloop of war to fire two shots over her, when the French-
man thought proper to salute.

In 1771 Admiral Sir Charles Knowles obtained his
majesty's permission to enter into the service of the
Empress of Russia as admiral of her fleet. Though high
payments were promised him, it appears that he was very
inadequately rewarded. On his return in 1774, he found
some difficulty in being reinstated to his rank as admiral.

A machine, invented by Dr. Lynn, for making salt water
fresh, was tried on board the Resolution at Deptford with
great success, in consequence of which the Admiralty
directed all ships of war to be fitted with a still and the
necessary apparatus.

In 1772 Captain James Cook, who had lately returned,
undertook a second voyage of discovery in the Pacific, on
board the Resolution, accompanied by Captain Furneaux
in the Adventure.

We now come to the first outbreak of hostilities with
the revolted provinces of North America. At Rhode
Island, his majesty's schooner Gaspee, commanded by
Lieutenant Duddingstone, was attacked in the night by
200 armed men in eight boats, who, notwithstanding the
defence made by her commander, seized the vessel, when
he and several of his people were wounded, and the rebels
taking out the crew, set her on fire.

In 1773 Lord Howe presented a petition to the House

NELSON'S VOYAGE TO THE NORTH POLE. 239

of Commons in behalf of the captains in the navy, "solicit-
ing an increase of half-pay. It was carried by a great
majority, and two shillings a-day were added to the half-
pay. The pay of surgeons was also increased, as was that
of masters.

It was now evident that the ministry expected to be
plunged into war. On the 26th of April the guard-ships
were ordered to take on board six months' provisions, to
complete their complement of men, and to prepare for sea.
All the ships of war reported fit for service were got ready
to be commissioned, rendezvous were opened for the rais-
ing of seamen, and a proclamation issued by his majesty
offering bounties of £3 to every able seaman who should
enter the navy, £2 to an ordinary seaman, and £1 to
a landsman. On the 22nd of June his majesty reviewed
the fleet at Spithead, consisting of 20 sail of the line, 2
frigates, and a few sloops, when he was saluted by 232
guns. It was the first of many visits. He knighted
several officers, others received promotion, and sums were
distributed among the dockyard artisans, the crews of his
yacht, the poor of Portsea and Gosport, and the prisoners
confined for debt in Portsmouth jail.

Another voyage was undertaken to the North Pole in
the hopes of discovering a passage to the East Indies.
The Racehorse and Carcass bombs, commanded by the
Honourable Captain Phipps — afterwards Lord Mulgrave
— and Captain Lutwidge, were equipped for the enterprise,
but, unable to penetrate the ice, returned in the same
autumn. On board the Racehorse sailed, in the capacity
of captain's coxswain, one who was ere long to make his
aame known to fame — Horatio Nelson.

His majesty's ship Kent, commanded by Captain Field-
ing, was nearly destroyed while saluting the admiral as she
was sailing out of Plymouth Sound, the wadding from the
guns having communicated with some powder in the
ammunition-chest on the poop. It blew up all the after-
part of the ship, when most of the men on the poop were
blown overboard, 50 of whom being killed or dreadfully
wounded.

On the 29th of June, 1775, the Hibernian Mqaine Society

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVf .

in Dublin was instituted for maintaining and educating
the children of decayed, reduced, or deceased seamen, and
apprenticing them to the sea-service.

The news arrived of a conflict between the revolted pro-
vinces and a detachment of the king's troops at Lexington,
when the latter were compelled to retire with considerable
loss into the town of Boston. This was followed by the
attack on Bunker's Hill on the 17th of June, when the
British also lost a number of officers and men, and the
flame of war now began to blaze over the whole of the
continent. The incidents, however, of the American war
of independence cannot but be briefly touched on. A fleet
under Lord Shuldham and Commodore Sir Peter Parker
was sent to blockade the principal naval ports, and both
parties fitted out small vessels on Lake Champlain to
carry on the contest. The English squadron was under
the command of Captain Pringle, who found the Ameri-
cans drawn up in an advantageous position to defend the
passage between the island of Valicour and the main. As
the enemy was to windward, he was unable to work up his
large vessels, so that his gun-boats and a schooner were
alone engaged. He, however, succeeded in sinking the
largest American schooner and a smaller vessel. At night,
he called off the vessels engaged, and anchored his fleet in
line, to be ready for an attack the next morning. General
Arnold, who commanded the American squadron, finding
it inferior, availed himself of the darkness of the night, and
withdrew towards Crown Point. Captain Pringle followed
him on the 13th, when another action ensued, and con-
tinued for two hours, the Americans being dispersed, leav-
ing the Washington galley, with General Waterburn on
board, in the hands of the British; others were run on
shore and burnt by their own crews, the remainder effect-
ing their escape to Ticonderoga.

Letters of marque and reprisal were now granted by the
Admiralty against the thirteen revolted provinces. On the
1 8th of March the French king issued an edict to seize all
British ships in the ports of France, and on the 13th of
April a squadron of French ships of war under the com-
mand of the Comte D'Estaing sailed for North America.

WAR WITH FRANCE COMMENCED. 241

It was not, however, till the 5th of June that an English
fleet under Admiral Byron was sent out in quest of it.
The English fleet was dispersed by a heavy gale, when
Admiral Byron alone succeeded in reaching the American
coast. He found the French squadron already at anchor
in the neighbourhood of New York.

Admiral Keppel was now appointed to the command of
the Channel Fleet, and soon afterwards the Milford cap-
tured the Licorne, a French frigate of 32 guns, which,
with three others, had been found reconnoitring the fleet.
The Arethusa and Alert cutters pursued the other French
vessels, and at night came up with the Belle Poule, when
the first action of this war ensued, celebrated in song.
Captain Marshall informed her commander that his orders
were to conduct him to the British admiral, with which
the French captain peremptorily refused to comply. Cap-
tain Marshall then fired a shot over her, which was
instantly returned by a broadside from the Belle Poule.
A desperate engagement took place, and continued with
great obstinacy for two hours, by which time they were
close in with the French coast. The Belle Poule then
stood in to a small bay, from whence a number of
boats came out and towed her into a place of safety.
The Arethusa' s main-mast fell over the side, and she
was otherwise so disabled that it was with the utmost
difficulty she could clear the land. The next morning
she was towed back to the fleet by the Valiant and
Monarch.

<3rhe "JVrethuea."

Come, all you jolly sailors bold,

Whose hearts are cast in honour's mould,

While English glory I unfold,

Huzza to the Arethusa!
She is a frigate, tight and brave,
As ever stemm'd the dashing wave ;

Her men are staunch

To their favourite launch ;
And when the foe shall meet our fire,
Sooner than strike we'll all expire

On board of the Arethusa.

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

'Twas with the spring fleet she went out
The English Channel to cruise about,
When four French sail in show so stout

Bore down on the Arethusa.
The famed Belle Poule straight ahead did lie;
The Arethusa seemed to fly —

Not a sheet, or a tack,

Or a brace, did she slack,

Tho' the Frenchmen laugh'd and thought it stuff;
But they knew not the handful of men, how tough,

On board of the Arethusa.

On deck five hundred men did dance,
The stoutest they could find in France;
We with two hundred did advance

On board of the Arethusa.
Our captain hailed the Frenchmen, Ho!
The Frenchmen they cried out, Hallo !

" Bear down, d'ye see,

To our admiral's lee."

" No, no," says the Frenchman, "that can't be;"
" Then I must lug you along with me,"

Says the saucy Arethusa.

The fight was off the Frenchmen's land,
We forced them back upon their strand,
For we fought till not a stick would stand

Of the gallant Arethusa.
And now we've driven the foe ashore,
Never to fight with Britons more.

Let each fill a glass

To his favourite lass ;
A health to our captain and officers true,
And all that belong to the jovial crew

Of the gallant Arethusa.

On the 23rd of June Admiral Keppel's fleet came in
sight of that of the French under the command of the
Comte D'Orvilliers. After an engagement of some hours,
the French fleet took to flight during the night, and
escaped into Brest.

It is impossible to relate the numberless gallant actions
which from this period took place for many years between
the ships of Great Britain and her enemies.

In consequence of charges exhibited by Sir Hugh
Palliser against Admiral Keppel for his conduct in the
engagement just mentioned, a court-martial was held at

WAR WITH SPAIN, 1779. 243

the governor's house at Portsmouth to try him, when the
following sentence was pronounced : — " That in their
opinion the charge against Admiral Keppel is malicious
and ill-founded, it having appeared that the said admiral,
so far from having, by misconduct or neglect of duty on the
days therein alluded to, lost an opportunity of rendering
essential service to the State, and thereby tarnished the
honour of the British Navy, behaved as became a judicious,
brave, and experienced officer."

On the following day Admiral Keppel received the
thanks of both Houses of Parliament.

Not long after this the " gallant Arethusa " was wrecked
upon the rocks near Ushaat, in pursuit of an enemy. The
crew were saved, and treated by the French with great
humanity.

On the 15th of June, 1779, his Royal Highness Prince
William Henry embarked on board his majesty's ship
Prince George, 90 guns, to serve as a midshipman in the
navy. The next day a proclamation was issued to com-
mence hostilities against Spain, in consequence of the
hostile attitude that country had assumed. The first
Spanish ship captured during the war was taken by the
Pearl, of 32 guns, commanded by Captain George
Montague, during a cruise off the Western Islands. After
an action which lasted from half-past nine till half-past
eleven, she struck, and proved to be the Santa A rmonica,
a Spanish frigate of 32 guns and 271 men, 38 of whom
were killed and 45 wounded. The Pearl had 12 killed
and 10 wounded.

Admiral Byron, though a gallant officer, appears always
to have been unfortunate. In the last engagement which
took place while he commanded the British fleet on the
American station, Comte D'Estaing managed to pass him
and escape after severely mauling his ships, when 103 men
were killed and 346 wounded, though the French loss
amounted to 1200 men killed and 1500 wounded.

At this time the want of active flag-officers was severely
felt. Promotions were exceedingly slow, so that it was not
until officers were nearly superannuated that they attained
to that rank. The junior captain promoted in 1779 to

244 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the rank of rear-admiral was Sir John Lockhart Rose,
who had been twenty-three years ou the list of post-
captains. Others had been a still longer time.

The French ships also had a great advantage in being
coppered, besides which, though respectively carrying the
same number of guns as the British, they were much
larger vessels.

Among the actions fought at this time, one deserves
especially to be noticed. It ended disastrously to the
English flag ; although nothing could exceed the gallantry
displayed by British officers and seamen on the occasion.
Captain Richard Pearson, commanding the 44-gun ship
Serapis, in company of the armed 22-gun ship Countess
of Scarborough, Captain Thomas Piercy, was escorting the
Baltic Fleet, loaded with naval stores, which were at that
time of especial consequence to supply the dockyards, left
almost destitute of them. The Serapis was one of a re-
markably bad class of ships, worse even than the two-
decked 50-gun ships. She measured 886 tons, and her
armament consisted of 20 long 18-pounders on the lower-
deck, 22 long 12-pounders on the main-deck, and 2 long
6-pounders on the forecastle, making in all 44 guns.
These guns she carried on two decks, but the lower-deck
ports were so close to the water's edge that it was danger-
ous to open them in a seaway, besides which the space
between decks was so low that it was with difficulty they
could be worked, while the upper-deck had only a light
breast-high bulwark. From the length of the lower-deck
guns they could not be easily run in, while the 12-pounders
on the main-deck were so old and their vents so large that
much powder exploded through them.

The convoy had already made the coast of England, and
was close in with Scarborough, when information was
received from the shore that a flying squadron of the
enemy's ships had been seen the day before standing to the
southward. Upon receiving this intelligence, Captain
Pearson made the signal for the convoy to bear down
under his lee, but they still kept stretching out from the
land, till the headmost vessel caught sight of the enemy,
when they tacked and stood in shore, letting fly their top-

PEARSON'S ACTION WITH PAUL JONES. 245

gallant sheets and firing guns. Captain Pearson on this
made sail to windward to get between the enemy's ships
and the convoy. At one o'clock the strangers were seen
from the mast-head of the Serapis, and at four were dis-
covered from the deck to be three large ships and a brig.
His consort, Countess of Scarborough, being at this time
close in shore, Captain Pearson ordered her by signal to
join him. The approaching ships were three fitted out in
France, but carrying the American flag, and commanded
by Captain Paul Jones. The largest had formerly been
an Indiaman, and her name had been changed to that of
the Bon Homme Richard. She is supposed to have
measured about 946 tons, and to have carried on her
main-deck about 28 long 12-pounders, on the lower-deck,
6 or 8 18-pounders, and 2 long 6-pounders on the fore-
castle. The other ships were the American 36-gun frigate
Alliance, the French 32-gun frigate Pallas, the Ven-
geance, a French 14-gun brig, and the French Cerf cutter.
As yet, however, the strangers' colours were not visible.

At about 7.20 the two-decked ship, soon known to be
the Bon Homme, Richard, brought to on the larboard bow
of the Serapis, within musket-shot, when Captain Pearson
hailed her, and asked, " What ship's that ?" "The Princess
Royal" was the answer. Captain Pearson then asked
from whence they came, and on an evasive answer being
returned, declared that he would fire if his question was
not directly answered. The stranger then fired a gun, on
which the Serapis gave her her broadsides. Several
broadsides were now exchanged, when the American ship
hove all aback, and dropped on the quarter of the Serapis,
evidently with the intention of raking her. Filling again,
she ran the Serapis aboard on the weather or larboard
quarter, and an attempt was now made to board her, but
was at once repulsed. Captain Pearson now backed his
yards to enable him to get square with his antagonist, but
gathering too much stern-way, the Richard was able to
fill and stand across his bows. Her mizen-shrouds, how-
ever, catching the jib-boom of the Serapis, and the spar
giving way, the ships dropped alongside each other head
and stern. Both ships were kept in this position in con-

46 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

sequence of the spare anchor of the Serapis having entered
the gallery of the Richard, when a furious cannonade was
carried on, the muzzles of the guns touching each other.
While in this position, the Alliance frigate coming up,
sailed round the combatants, pouring in a galling fire on
the Serapis, to which no return could be made. There
could have been little doubt that even thus Captain Pear-
son would have gained the victory, had not some hand-
grenades been thrown on his deck, which set the ship on fire
several times, one of them igniting a cartridge of powder,
the flames of which communicated from cartridge to
cartridge all the way off, and blew up the whole of the
people and several officers who were quartered abaft the
main -mast. By this time all the men on the quarter and
main-decks were killed or wounded. Notwithstanding
this, so furious had been the fire of the Serapis, that at
ten the enemy called for quarter ; .but on Captain Pearson
hailing to inquire if they had struck, and no answer being
given, he ordered the boarders away. As, however, they
reached the deck of the enemy, they found a superior
number of men concealed with pikes in their hands ready
to receive them. On this the crew of the Serapis retreated
to their own ship, and instantly returned to their guns ;
but at the same moment the frigate again poured another
broadside into her with such effect that the main-mast
fell, and Captain Pearson being unable to get a single gun
to bear on his antagonist, was compelled to strike his
colours. He and his first lieutenant were immediately
escorted on board the Bon Homme Richard. He found
her condition to be even worse than his own ; her quarters
and counter were entirely driven in; the whole of her
lower-deck guns dismounted, and she was also on fire in
two places, with six or seven feet of water in the hold.

In the meantime Captain Piercy had been closely engaged
with the Pallas and Vengeance, but perceiving another
frigate bearing down on him, he also was compelled to sur-
render. The next day the Bon Homme Richard sank,
and Paul Jones and the French frigate carried their prizes
into the Texel. The two English captains had done their
duty, and saved their convoy, which all escaped. Of the

CARRONADES INTRODUCED. 247

numerous crew on board the Richard no less a number
than 317 were killed or wounded, while the Serapis lost
49 killed and 68 wounded, many others suffering from
burns — while, from the ill-treatment the prisoners received,
many of the wounded died.

On the return of Captains Pearson and Piercy, the
former was knighted and the latter promoted, and both
received testimonials from the London Assurance Company,
as an acknowledgment of their skill and bravery, which
had preserved the valuable fleet from capture. Had ships
of sufficient force been sent out to convoy the fleet, the
enemy would, in all probability, have been captured.

A considerable change was now about to be introduced
in the character of the guns used on board ships of war.
On the banks of the River Carron in Scotland, the iron-
works of the Carron Company for some time existed. In
these works, in the year 1779, a piece of ordnance had been
cast, the invention of John Robert Melville, shorter than a
4-pounder, and lighter than a 12-pounder. It carried a
shot of 68 pounds, and from its destructive effects, when
fired against a mass of timber, its inventor called it the
" Smasher." From the works in which it was cast, it soon
obtained the name of " carronade." Several smaller pieces
were shortly afterwards cast, to carry shot of 24, 18, and 12
pounds. These guns were eagerly purchased by the owners
of privateers fitted out to cruise against the Americans,
and the Lords of the Admiralty approving of them, directed
some 18 and 12-pounder carronades to be placed on board
a few frigates and smaller vessels of the Royal Navy. It
was some time, however, before naval officers approved of
them ; some complained that the carronade was too short
to allow its fire to pass clear of the ship's side, and that its
range was not of sufficient extent to be of use ; that one
pair of their quarter-deck carronades being in the way of
the rigging, endangered the laniards and shrouds. The
Board of Ordnance also asserted that the old gun, from the
comparative length of its range, was superior to the car-
ronade, notwithstanding the greater weight of the shot it
carried. Thus, curiously enough, although a considerable
number of carronades were placed on board ships of war,

248 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE SRlTlSfl NAVY.

they were not reckoned for some time as belonging to the
armament of the ship, and officers persisted in speaking
only of the long guns they carried, and ignoring the car-
ronades, although, in reality, far more destructive in their
effects. Especially did they object to exchange any of their
long guns for carronades. On board the larger ships, as the
quarter-decks carried already as many guns as there was
room for ports on each side, no additional pieces could be
admitted ; but the forecastle in most ships allowed of the
opening of a pair of extra ports, and by strengthening the
poop, it was found that three pairs of ports could be placed
there. A 50-gun ship had room for three pairs of ports on
her poop, one pair on her quarter-deck, and a pair on her
forecastle. By similar alterations, a 44-gun ship was made
to carry ten carronades, while on board the sixth-rates
and the quarter-deck ship-sloop class, by building up
bulwarks or barricades, they could be made to carry eight
carronades.

Notwithstanding the fewer number of men with which
carronades were worked, and the powerful effect of their
shot at close quarters, it was some time before all British
men-of-war were entirely furnished with them. At length
it was determined to arm with them the 44-gun ship
Rainbow, commanded by Captain Henry Trollope, who,
with Lord Keith, then Captain Keith Elphinstone, and
Admiral Macbride, were among the first patrons of the
new style of gun. About March, 1782, she was equipped
with 48 carronades — namely, 20 68-pounders on her main-
deck, 22 42-pounders on her upper deck, 4 32-pounders on
her quarter-deck, and 2 32-pounders on her forecastle, her
broadside weight of metal being thus 1238 pounds, whereas
in her former armament of long guns, the broadside weight
of metal was only 318 pounds. Thus armed, with the
above-mentioned officers and crew, she sailed on a cruise
in search of an enemy; for some months, however, she was
unable to come within gunshot of a foe, and it was not till
the 4th of September of that year, when, being off the
Isle du Bas, she came in sight of a large French frigate, to
which she at once gave chase. The enemy proved to be
the Htfbtf, mounting 28, 18, and 12 8-pounders, 40 guns in

THE " RAINBOW " CAPTURES THE " HE"BE." 249

all. and measuriDg 10G3 tons, with 363 men on board,
commanded by the Chevalier de Vigney. At 7 A.M. the
Rainbow commenced firing her bow-chasers, which were
returned by the frigate, and, as it proved, several shot
falling on board, the enemy discovered their size. The
French captain concluding that if such large shot came
from the forecastle of the enemy's ship, larger ones would
follow from her lower batteries, after exchanging a single
broadside with the Rainbow, for the honour of his flag,
wisely surrendered. During this short action the Hebe's
foremast had been disabled by one of the 68-pound
shot, her wheel had been knocked away, and her second
captain and four men killed. No one was hurt on
board the Rainbow. The Hebe", a beautiful ship, was
purchased into the British Navy, and long served as a
model to English shipwrights. No reflection could be cast
upon the courage of the French captain, for had he con-
tinued the action, his ship would in a few minutes probably
have been sunk, the Rainbow's broadside weight of metal
being nearly four times that of the Hebe', though the
number of guns she carried was only four less than that of
his antagonist. This action went far to establish the
reputation of the carronades.

Towards the end of 1779 information was received that
the French had agreed to assist Spain in an attempt to
retake Gibraltar, in consequence of which Sir George
Rodney, who was about to sail to the West Indies with 20
sail of the line convoying a large fleet of merchantmen,
was directed to relieve Gibraltar before he proceeded west-
ward. Another squadron under Rear-Admiral Digby was
also sent out, which was to return to England. For several
years since 1773 a Spanish army had been kept before
Gibraltar, but General Elliot, who commanded the fortress,
had completely baffled all its attempts. Rodney on his
way out, when off Cape St. Vincent, caught sight of a
Spanish squadron convoying a fleet of merchant-vessels.
The enemy on discovering him crowded all sail to escape,
on which he made a signal for a general chase. The
English ships gained rapidly on the enemy. At about five
in the evening the Bienfaisant, Captain John Macbride,

250 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

got up with the Spanish 70-gun ship the San Domingo,
but scarcely had she opene'd her fire when the latter blew
up, and every soul on board, with the exception of one man,
perished. The poor fellow was picked up by the Pegasus.
but was so much injured that he expired shortly afterwards.
The action was continued during the whole night, and at
2 A.M. the following morning Admiral Kodney finding that
the enemy's ships were too much disabled to enable them
to escape, hove to. Besides the one which blew up, the
Phoenix 80-gun ship and five 70-gun ships were taken. The
weather being bad, it was not without great difficulty that
the fleet, which had got into shoal water, could work off
again. Two of the prizes, on board of which prize crews
had been put, but from which on account of the bad
weather it had been impossible to remove the officers and
men, were recaptured by the Spaniards and carried into
Cadiz. The small-pox ragi,n;T on board the Bienfaisant,
Captain Macbride, who had taken possession of the Phoe-
nix, actuated by principles of humanity worthy of being
recorded, to avoid the risk of infection spreading among
the prisoners, sent the following proposals to Don Juan de
Langara, who accepted them with thanks : —

"Captain Macbride consents that neither officers nor
men shall be removed from the Phoenix, Admiral Langara
being responsible for their conduct ; and in case we shall
fall in with any Spanish or French ships of war, he will
not suffer Lieutenant Thomas Lewis, the officer now in
command of the Phoenix, to be interrupted in conducting
and defending the ship to the last extremity. And if,
meeting with superior force, the Phoenix should be retaken
and the Bienfaisant fight her way clear, the admiral and
his officers and men are to hold themselves prisoners of
war to Captain Macbride, upon their parole of honour,
(which he is confident with Spanish officers is ever sacred).
Likewise, if the Bienfaisant should be taken and the
Phoenix escape, the admiral and his officers will no longer
be prisoners, but freed immediately. In short, they are to
follow the fate of the Bienfaisant."

This remarkable agreement was executed with the
strictest honour.

RODNEY'S ACTIONS IN THE WEST INDIES. 251

Soon afterwards Captain Macbride, after a smart action,
captured the Comte D'Arotis, private ship of war, mounting
64 guns, and 644 men, commanded by the Chevalier de
Clonard.

Admiral Rodney, who had been joined by Rear-Admiral
Sir Hyde Parker at St. Lucia, gaining intelligence of the
French fleet, which consisted of 25 sail of the line and
8 frigates, sailed in search of them. On the 19th of April,
having come in sight of the enemy on the previous evening,
about noon he threw out a signal for every ship to bear
down, steer for them, and engage at close quarters her
opposite in the enemy's line. At 1 the action became
general, and continued until 4.15 P.M., when the French
took to flight, the crippled state of the British ships
rendering pursuit impracticable. Every exertion having
now been made to repair damages, on the 20th the George
again caught sight of the French, and pursued them
without effect for three successive days. The French ran
under Guadaloupe, where they had taken shelter. On the
6th, hearing that they had left their anchorage and were
approaching to windward of Martinique, Rodney put to
sea, and continued turning to windward between it and
St. Lucia until the 10th, when the enemy's fleet was dis-
covered about three leagues to windward. Still the French
studiously avoided coming to a general action. Sir George
on this, to deceive them, directed his fleet to make all
possible sail on a wind. This manoeuvre led the enemy
to think he was retiring, and emboldened him to approach
much nearer than usual. Rodney allowed them to indulge
in their mistake, until their own ship had approached
abreast of his centre, when, by a fortunate shift of wind,
being able to weather the enemy, he made the signal to
' Rear- Admiral Parker, who led the van, to tack and gain
the wind of the enemy. The French fleet instantly wore
and fled under a crowd of sail, but would have been
compelled to fight, had not the wind on a sudden changed.
The Albion, Captain Bowyer, late in the evening, reached
the centre of the enemy's line, and commenced a heavy
cannonade, supported by the Conqueror and the rest of
the van ; but as the enemy continued under a press of

'252 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

sail, the remainder of the fleet could not partake in the
action. Still, Rodney perseveringly followed up the enemy,
and on the 19th the wind again changing gave him hopes
of being able to bring on a general action. Before, how-
ever, he could close it again shifted ; but the French
admiral rinding that his rear could not escape, suddenly
took the resolution of risking a general action. As soon
as his van had weathered the British, he bore away along
the line to windward, discharging his broadsides, but at
such a distance as to do little execution. The Frenchmen,
however, could not avoid being closely attacked by the
ships of the van, led by Commodore Hotham. After this
the enemy continued under a press of sail to the northward,
and on the 21st were out of sight.

In these several actions the British loss amounted to
186 killed and 464 wounded, including 7 officers in the
former and 14 in the latter list.

On the 10th and llth of October a dreadful hurricane
blew over the West Indian Islands, during which eight
ships were lost, with the greater portion of their crews,
and six were severely damaged. The French were also
great sufferers.

A squadron, under Rear- Admiral Rowley, on the passage
to England with a convoy, also suffered dreadfully. The
admiral, with five of his ships, returned to Jamaica dis-
masted. The Berwick, also dismasted, with difficulty
arrived in England. The Stirling Castle was totally lost
on the Silver Keys, near Hispaniola, and only fifty of her
crew saved ; while the Thunderer, which had separated
from the fleet, foundered, and every soul perished. Several
other ships were driven on shore, and eight lost their
masts.

Towards the end of 1780 war was declared against the
Dutch, who, it was found, were making preparations to
attack England. On the 5th of August, 1781, Rear-
Ad miral Sir Hyde Parker fell in with the Dutch fleet off
the Dogger Bank, when an action ensued in which both
fleets were dreadfully cut to pieces, the Dutch escaping
into the Texel. One of their ships, of 68 guns, the Hol-
landia, went down in twenty-two fathom water. Her pen-

THE SPANIARDS ATTACK GIBRALTAR. 253

dant the next morning was seen above the surface, when
Captain Patten, of the Belle Poule, struck it, and brought
it to Sir Hyde Parker. The English lost 104 men killed
and 339 wounded, among whom were 30 officers.

Sir George Rodney at the same time attacked the Dutch
island of St. Eustatia, which, with those of St. Martin and
Saba, at once capitulated, a richly-laden fleet falling into
the hands of the English, as well as a vast quantity of
merchandise stored up.

One of the most important events of this period must
now be described. The hopes of the Spaniards had been
raised in consequence of their recapture of the island of
Minorca ; General Murray, in command of Fort St. Philip
— the greater portion of his troops having died or been
struck down with scurvy — after a heroic defence, having
been compelled to yield. The Spanish army, which had
so long been besieging Gibraltar, was now increased to
40,000 men, including 12,000 French, and, in addition,
there were 47 sail of the line, 40 gunboats with heavy
cannon, 40 bomb-vessels, each armed with 12-inch mortars,
5 large bomb-ketches, and 300 large boats to be employed
in landing the troops as soon as a breach should be made
— besides which, there were 10 large floating batteries, the
invention of the Chevalier D'Arzon, a French engineer of
great repute, on such a principle that they would not, he
believed, be sunk or set on fire by shot. It was said that
no less than 1200 pieces of heavy ordnance had been
accumulated before the place, with 83,000 barrels of gun-
powder, and shot, shells, military stores, and provisions in
the same proportion. The chief reliance of the besiegers
was, however, placed on the floating batteries. They were
built of extraordinary thickness, and so fortified that they
were proof from all external, as well as internal, violence.
To prevent their being set on fire, a strong case was formed
of timber and cork, a long time soaked in water, and
enclosing a large body of wet sand ; the whole being of
such thickness and density that no cannon-ball could pene-
trate within two feet of the inner partition.

For this purpose, ten large ships, from 600 to 1400
tons burden, had been cut down, and 200,000 cubic feet

254 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of timber worked in their construction. To protect them
from bombs, and the men at the batteries from grape, or
descending shot, a hanging roof was contrived, which was
worked up and down by springs. The roof was composed
of a strong ropework netting, laid over with a thick cover-
ing of wet hides, while its sloping position was calculated
to prevent shells from lodging, and to throw them off into
the sea before they could burst. To render the fire of
these batteries the more rapid, a kind of match had been
contrived, so to be placed that all the guns in the battery
could go off at the same instant. To defend them from
red-hot shot, with which the fortress was supplied, the
newest part of the plan was that by which water could be
carried in every direction to neutralise its effect. In
imitation of the circulation of the blood, a variety of pipes
and canals perforated all the solid workmanship in such a
manner that a continued succession of water could be con-
veyed to every part of the structure, a number of pumps
being adapted to afford an unlimited supply. It was thus
believed that these terrible machines, capable of inflicting
destruction, would themselves be invulnerable. The largest
carried 21 guns, and their complement of men was 36 for
each gun in use, exclusive of officers and mariners for
working the ships.

General Elliot, undaunted by the preparations made by
the enemy, determined to try what he and his brave garri-
son could do to counteract them. Accordingly, at seven
o'clock in the morning of the 8th of September, he opened
a tremendous fire on their works with red-hot shot, car-
casses, and shells. At ten o'clock the Mahon battery, with
the one adjoining it, were in flames. By five in the
evening both were entirely consumed ; a great part of the
eastern parallel, and of the trenches and parapet for mus-
ketry, were likewise destroyed. A large battery near the
bay was so much damaged by having repeatedly been set
on fire, that the enemy were compelled to abandon
it, while they lost an immense number of men in their
endeavour to extinguish the flames. The next day the
French and Spaniards opened a new battery of 64 heavy
cannon, which, with the artillery from the lines and 60

THE SPANIARDS DEFEATED. 255

mortars, continued to play upon the garrison without inter-
mission the whole day. At the same time, seven Spanish
ships of the line and two French, with some frigates and
small vessels, passing along the works discharged their
broadsides, until they had passed Europa Point, and got
into the Mediterranean.

In the meantime, the English squadron being too small
to compete with them, the seamen had been landed, under
the command of Captain Roger Curtis, and had been
placed in the batteries at Europa Point. Hence they had
attacked the Spanish line-of-battle ships, and compelled
them to haul off.

About eight o'clock in the morning of the 13th of
September, the battering ships lying at the head of the
bay, under the command of Rear- Admiral Don Moreno,
got under sail to attack the fort. At ten o'clock the
admiral having taken up his station off the king's bastion,
the other ships extended themselves at moderate distances
from the old to the new mole, in a line parallel with the
rock, at a distance of about one thousand yards, and
immediately commenced a heavy cannonade, supported by
the cannon and mortars on the enemy's lines. On seeing
this the garrison opened a tremendous fire ; the red-hot
shot were thrown with such precision that about two o'clock
in the afternoon, the smoke was seen to issue from the
admiral and another ship, the men in vain endeavouring
to extinguish the fire by pouring water into the holes.
By one o'clock the two ships were in flames, and seven
more took fire in succession. Signals of distress were now
seen flying on board the Spanish ships, while the launches
came up for the purpose of taking the men out of the
burning ships, it being. impossible to remove them. When
he saw this, Captain Curtis advanced with his gunboats
and drew them up so as to flank the enemy's battering
ships, which were annoyed by an incessant, heavy, and
well-directed fire from the garrison. The Spanish boats
were so assailed by showers of shot and shell that they
would not venture on a nearer approach, and were compelled
to abandon their ships and friends to the flames. Several
of the enemy's boats were sunk ; the crew of one of these

256 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

were all drowned, with the exception of an officer and
twelve men, who floated on the wreck under the walls, and
were rescued by the English.

The scene was full of horrors. Numbers of men were
observed in the midst of the flames, imploring relief;
others were seen floating on pieces of timber; while even
those on board the ships not on fire expressed the deepest
distress, and were equally urgent in asking for assistance.
Captain Curtis and his gallant sailors, though exposed to
the greatest possible danger, eagerly boarded the burning
ships to rescue the now conquered enemy from destruction.
While they were thus engaged, one of the largest of the
Spanish ships blew up, spreading its wreck far around. By
this accident, one English gunboat was sunk, and another
much damaged. A piece of falling timber struck a hole
through the bottom of Captain Curtis' barge, by which his
coxswain was killed and two of his crew wounded ; the
rest were saved from perishing by the seamen stuffing
their jackets into the hole, which kept the boat afloat
until others came to their assistance. While the ships
were burning, numbers of Spaniards were seen floating on
pieces of timber, liable every moment to be washed off, or
destroyed by the shot from the garrison. As soon, how-
ever, as it was discovered that the enemy were defeated,
the firing from Gibraltar entirely ceased, and every possible
effort was made to save the Spaniards from death. Nine
of these formidable batteries were burnt by the red-hot
shot, and the tenth was set on fire by her crew, as it was
found impracticable to carry her off. Even had the batter-
ing ships not taken fire, the Spaniards would have had no
chance of success, as the works of the fortress, notwith-
standing the tremendous fire directed against them, were
scarcely damaged. During the nine weeks the siege had
been going on, only 65 of the garrison had been killed, and
less than 400 wounded, while the seamen had only lost
two or three men.

A heavy gale coming on, several of the French and
Spanish ships suffered material damage, and the St.
Michael, a 72-gun ship, carrying 650 men, was driven
close under the works, and struck after a few shot had

RODNEY AND THE COMtfi D£ GRASSE. 25?

been fired into her. She was got off by Captain Curtis
a few days afterwards, with the loss only of her mizen-
inast.

On the llth of October Lord Howe appeared with a
large fleet, which the enemy endeavoured to avoid. After
seeing the troop-ships which he had convoyed into the
harbour, he went in search of the enemy's fleet, which,
after a short engagement, hauled their wind and stood off
to the north-west.

In the bomb-proof vessels above described we recognise
the idea of our present floating-batteries; while the result
of their attack on Gibraltar might have shown our naval
commanders in the Crimean war the slight hope there
was of any advantage being gained by their attack on the
batteries of Sebastopol.

The great object of the French was to capture the island
of Jamaica. For this purpose, the Comte de Grasse, who
commanded their fleet in the West Indies, was using
every exertion to equip his fleet and to form a junction
with the Spaniards. Sir George Rodney, with Sir Samuel
Hood and Admiral Drake and Commodore Affleck under
him, were on the look-out to prevent them. At length,
on the 8th of April, while the English fleet was at anchor
at St. Lucia, Captain Byron, in the Andromache frigate,
communicated to the admiral by signal that the enemy's
fleet, with a large convoy, were seen coming out of Fort
Royal Bay, and standing to the north-west. Sir George
instantly made the signal to weigh, and on the morning of
the 9th the enemy were seen forming a line of battle to
windward, and standing over towards Guadaloupe. For
some time the British fleet was becalmed, but as the breeze
reached the van division, commanded by Sir Samuel
Hood, he stood on and closed with the enemy's centre.
At nine o'clock the action commenced, and was maintained
with determined bravery for upwards of an hour by this
division, the Barfleur having generally three ships firing
upon her at once. At length the leading ships of the
centre got the breeze, and were enabled to come up to the
assistance of the van. These were soon after followed by
the Formidable, Duke, and Namur. The action raged

258 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

for some time, much gallantry being displayed by the
captain of a French 74-gun ship, who, backing his main-
topsail, steadily received and returned the fire of these
three ships in succession. The Comte de Grasse, seeing
the remainder of the British fleet coming up, withdrew
out of fire, and by the llth his fleet was nearly hull down.
All hopes of being able to keep up with them appeared to
be at an end, when two French ships, which had been
much damaged, were perceived about noon to leeward of
their fleet. Chase was instantly made by the English,
when the Comte de Grasse bore down to their relief. Sir
George Rodney on this recalled the ships in chase, and
formed a close line of battle, carrying sail to windward all
night. At dawn of the 12th, a French ship of the line,
the £$£,.74 guns, was seen much disabled, and towed by
a frigate. The Comte de Grasse, on perceiving that she
must be taken, bore up with his whole fleet for her pro-
tection. He could now no longer avoid an engagement.
At half-past seven Rear- Admiral Drake's division, which
led, commenced the action, which soon became general
from van to rear. Captain Gardner, in the Duke, having
unsuccessfully attempted to force the enemy's line, in
consequence of the loss of his main-topmast, Sir George
Rodney, in the Formidable, supported by the Namur and
Canada, broke through their line, about three ships from
the Ville de Paris, and was followed by the ships in his
rear, when he wore and doubled upon the enemy. By this
manoeuvre the French line was broken and thrown into the
utmost confusion; their van bore away, and endeavoured to
re-form to leeward, but this, hardly pressed as they were,
they were unable to accomplish. Sir Samuel Hood's division,
which had been becalmed the greater part of the forenoon,
now coming up, completed the victory. Several of the
French ships struck. Captain Cornwallis, to whom the
Hector had yielded, left his prize, and made sail after the
French admiral in the Ville de Paris. The well-directed
fire of the Canada so much annoyed her, and some other
ships approaching, made it impossible for her to escape ;
but the Comte de Grasse seemed determined to sink
rather than yield to anything under a flag. At length Sir

THE COMTE DE GRASSE DEFEATED. 259

Samuel Hood came up in the Barfleur, and poured in a
tremendous and destructive fire. The brave Frenchman
maintained the action for a quarter-of-an-hour longer,
when finding further resistance vain, and that he was
deserted by his second, hauled down his flag. The enemy's
fleet continued going off before the wind in small detached
squadrons and single ships, pursued by the British. On
this, Sir George made the signal to bring to, in order to
collect his fleet and secure the prizes. Some of the ships,
however, not observing the signal, did not return till the
next day. Before the prisoners could be shifted from the
Ccesar, she caught fire and blew up, an English lieutenant
and 50 men belonging to the Centaur, together with 400
Frenchmen, perishing.

The French are supposed to have lost 3000 men killed,
and double that number wounded, for, besides the ships'
crews, the fleet had on board 5500 troops. It was said
that at the time the Ville de Paris struck there were
but three men left alive and unhurt on the upper
deck, and that the Comte de Grasse was one of the
three.

A story is told of a female sailor who fought in the
action. While the battle was raging, one of the crew of a
gun being wounded and sent below, a woman took his
place. After the action she was brought before the admiral,
when it was discovered that she was the sailor's wife,
and had been concealed on board. She declared that
she thought it her duty to supply her husband's place,
and fight the French. Rodney threatened her for a
breach of the rules, but privately sent her a purse of
ten guineas.

A few days afterwards the admiral detached Sir Samuel
Hood in chase of the crippled French ships, when two more
were captured in the same gallant way by Captain Goodall
of the Valiant. A frigate of 32 guns and a sloop of 16
were also taken.

For this action Sir George Rodney was created a peer
of Great Britain; Sir Samuel Hood a peer of Ireland;
and Admiral Drake and Commodore Affleck were made
baronets.
•

260

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

These actions must be taken merely as examples of what
the navy was about at that time.

Towards the end of 1782, negotiations for a general
peace were set on foot, and it was finally concluded early
in the following year.

CHAPTER XV.

Cjnrb;

(FROM WAB WITH REPUBLICAN FBANCE, A.D. 1792, TO END OP A.D. 1802.)

E will briefly run over a few events which
occurred previous to the breaking out of the
first revolutionary war.

On May the 29th, 1782, the Royal George,
of 100 guns, being heeled over at Spithead to
repair a pipe which led under water, the lower-deck guns
having been run out, the water rushed with such rapidity
in at the port-holes that she filled and sank — Rear- Admiral
Kempenfeldt, with more than half his officers, and four
hundred persons, perishing, many of them the wives and
children of the seamen and marines on board.

We are apt to consider that the uniform of the navy
differed greatly from the army; but in an order dated
the llth of January, 1783, admirals, vice-admirals, and
rear-admirals were directed to wear coats very similar to
those worn by generals, lieutenant-generals, and major-
generals respectively, in the army, with the exception of
the crown and anchor buttons.

In the month of June, 1785, his Royal Highness Prince
William Henry, who had now served his time as a mid-
shipman, passed his examination, and was appointed third
lieutenant of the Hebe frigate, of 40 guns.

In 1785 a debate arose in the House of Commons
on the propriety of repairing the old 64-gun ships, and
also suffering ships of war to remain in ordinary with the
copper on their bottoms. Captain Macbride thought that
the 64-gun ships should be either broken up or sold, and

261

262 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

recommended in future none less than seventy-fours to be
built for the Hue of battle. He also pointed out the mis-
chievous effects that might ensue in suffering ships to be
laid up with their copper on, alleging that the copper would
in time corrode the bolts; in consequence of which the
ships' bottoms might drop out. He had examined a cop-
pered ship under repair, and found the bolts corroded and
eaten away. Ships had, however, before this time, been
fastened with copper bolts, and probably those seen by
Captain Macbride were either iron bolts cased only with
copper or composition.

The supplies granted by Parliament for the sea-service
for the year 1789 amounted to £2,328,570.

On the 24th of November, 1787, the Bounty, of 215 tons,
commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh, sailed from
Spithead, for the Pacific Ocean, to obtain a supply of the
bread-fruit tree. On the 28th of April, 1789, some of his
officers and crew mutinied, and took possession of the ship,
casting the commander and those who remained firm to
him adrift in an open boat. The hardihood and judgment
he displayed in conducting his boat's crew across the Pacific
to Batavia are well known.

Many useful contrivances have been invented by inferior
officers of the navy. Among others, Mr. Hill, the carpenter
of the Active, invented a machine for drawing bolts out
of ships' sides. He also invented a method for stopping
shot-holes.

In 1791 some experiments were made on board a ship
in Portsmouth Harbour, when he stopped a shot-hole on
the outside of the ship, four feet under water, in the space
of one minute, without the assistance of any person out of
the vessel. He stopped in the same manner a space in the
ship's side, four feet under water, of four feet by four
inches, in two minutes and a-half. During the time of
effectually curing both leaks, the ship made only ten inches
water in the well.

He also invented a wheel to work the chain-pump, which
was much safer and less liable to get out of order than that
before in use.

The French Revolution broke out in 1792. On the 21st

WAR WITH REPUBLICAN FRANCE. 263

of the following January, the French beheaded their king,
Louis the Sixteenth ; in consequence of which the French
ambassador at the court of London was ordered to quit
England. A short time before this the new Kepublic had
exhibited its hostile spirit against England, and on the 2nd
of January a shot had been fired from one of the batteries
near Brest on the British 16-gun brig-sloop Childers.
Though a 48-pounder shot struck her, no one was hurt.

On the 1st of February the National Convention
declared war against Great Britain and the United Nether-
lands.

England at this time possessed nominally 135 ships of
war in commission, and 169 in ordinary or under repair;
21 building or ordering to be built, and 86 harbour-ships ;
making in all 411 ships of 402,555 tons. Of these there
was one of 100 guns, 12-pounders, of 2091 tons, in com-
mission ; two of 100 guns, 18-pounders, under repair ; and
two of 100 guns, 12-pounders, under repair. Of second-
rates there were four 98-gun ships in commission, and
eleven under repair ; of 90 gun-ships there was one under
repair. Of two-deckers third-rate there was one 80-gun
ship in commission and one under repair. Of seventy-
fours there were 19 in commission and 61 under repair.
Of sixty-fours there were only two in commission and
30 under repair, making a total of 113 line-of-battle ships.
There were 75 frigates either in commission or under
repair ; but 23 of these carried 28 guns only. Of the most
useless class of ships in the service, the 24 and 20 gun post-
ships, there were 12 in commission or under repair. Of
18-gun ship-sloops and gun-brigs there were altogether 40.
Besides these there were 25 bomb fire-ships and cutters,
either in commission or under repair, making a total of
304 vessels, exclusive of those building ; but of these pro-
bably some were unseaworthy, and of those building or
ordered to be built, many were not in a state to be launched
for two or more years. However, in consequence of the
expected rupture between Spain and Russia, in the
previous two or three years upwards of 60 line-of-battle
ships were in a condition speedily to go to sea, while the
dockyards were well-stocked with imperishable stores.

264 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Thus, in a few weeks, 200 cruisers were commissioned and
fit for use.

At that time we had admirals 17, vice-admirals 19,
rear-admirals 19, post-captains 446, commanders 136,
lieutenants 1417, and masters 197. The number of sea-
men and marines, including officers of all ranks, voted by
Parliament for the service of the current year, was 45,000.

Portugal and Naples, who joined England, had the first
six ships of the line and four frigates, and the latter four
74-gun ships.

The Spanish navy amounted to 204 vessels, 76 of which
were of the line, carrying from 112 to 60 guns.

The Dutch navy at this time, though amounting nomi-
nally to 119 vessels, from a 74-gun ship to the smallest
armed cutter, was of little use to England, a large number
of the ships lying rotting in the different harbours, and
those able to put to sea being of comparatively small size,
and carrying but light guns.

The navy of France amounted to 250 vessels, of which
82 were of the line, nearly three-fourths in a serviceable
state ; and immediately on the outbreak of war, 71 new
ships were laid down, including 25 of the line, and orders
given to cast 400 brass 36-pounder carronades, the first
guns of the kind employed by the French. One of the
former was to mount 130 guns, and several old small-class
seventy-fours were cut down and converted into the most
formidable frigates that had hitherto been seen.

Such was the French navy, with which the fleet of Eng-
land was about to contend, not only for the dominion of
the seas, but to protect the hearths and homes of the
people from foreign invasion. Such, from the aggressive
character of the French people, was the danger, it was soon
seen, most to be apprehended. Never had the royal dock-
yards been so busy. Squadrons had to be sent off to rein-
force stations at a distance from home, and to protect our
colonies. Some months, therefore, elapsed before a fleet
could be got ready to cope with the enemy. As soon as
the ships could be fitted out, they were placed under the
command of Admiral Lord Howe, who, on the 24th of July,
set sail from Spithead with 15 ships of the line and a few

THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE. 20.")

frigates and sloops. For some weeks he cruised about in
search of the French fleet, being joined in the meantime by
more ships, till he had upwards of 30 under his command.
He, however, was compelled to return to Spithead without
meeting them.

In the meantime Lord Hood had proceeded to the
Mediterranean and taken possession of Toulon. Before,
however, we describe the events which took place there,
we will follow Lord Howe, who, on the following May,
received information that a valuable French convoy was
expected from the West Indies, and guessing that the
enemy's fleet would sail out for their protection, put to sea
in the hopes of intercepting them. His force now consisted
of 26 sail of the line and 13 frigates and sloops. On the
morning of the 28th, being about 140 leagues west of
Ushant, the enemy were discovered at some distance to
windward. On their perceiving the British fleet, they bore
down in loose order, but soon after hauled again to the
wind, and began to form in order of battle. Several of the
British ships, at a considerable distance to windward of the
fleet, approached the enemy's rear. Lord Howe then made
the signal for a general chase, and to engage the enemy.
Rear-Admiral Pasley, of the Bellerophon, towards the close
of the day, got up with the rear-ship of the enemy's line,
a three-decker, on which he commenced a firm and resolute
attack, supported occasionally by the ships in his division.
The Belleropkon, being soon disabled, fell to leeward. The
Audacious came up just at that time, and continued to
engage the same ship for two hours without intermission,
when the enemy's mizen-mast fell overboard, her lower
yards and main-topsail yards shot away, and otherwise
much shattered. The Audacious, however, having her
rigging and sails cut to pieces, and the ship being for some
time unmanageable, was unable to follow the Frenchman,
who put before the wind and escaped. The night being
dark, Captain Parker lost sight of the fleet, and being in too
disabled a state to rejoin, was compelled to bear away for
the channel. The next day a partial engagement took
place between the two hostile fleets, which resulted in the
British obtaining the weather-gage.

2GG POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

On the morning of the 1st of June, both fleets being
drawn up in order of battle, at half-past seven Lord Howe
made the signal for both fleets to bear up, and for each
ship to engage her opponent in the enemy's line. In a
short time a tremendous cannonade commenced from van
to rear, which raged with unceasing fury for about an hour.
The enemy's line having been forced through in many
places, they began to give way, and their admiral, vigor-
ously attacked by the Queen Charlotte, bore up, and was
followed by all those of his ships that were able to carry
sail, leaving the rest, which were dismasted and crippled,
at the mercy of their enemies. Upon the clearing up of
the smoke, eight or ten French ships were seen, some
totally dismasted and others with only one mast standing,
endeavouring to make off under their sprit-sails^ Seven of
these were taken possession of; one, Le Vengeur, sank
before the whole of her crew could be taken out, not more
than 280 being saved. A distant and irregular firing was
continued at intervals between the fugitive and British
ships till about four in the afternoon, when the French
admiral, having collected most of his remaining ships,
steered off to the eastward. The Queen Charlotte had
lost both her topmasts, the Marlborough and Defence were
wholly dismasted, and many of the other ships materially
damaged. Earl Howe, therefore, brought to, in order to
secure the prizes and collect his ships before dark. The
loss sustained by the British in this action amounted to
281 killed and 788 wounded. Among the first was Cap-
tain James Montague of the Montague, while three
admirals and four captains were severely wounded. The
killed on board the enemy's ships that were captured
amounted to 690, and 580 wounded, exclusive of 320
lost in Le Vengeur when she sank, the greater number
of whom were wounded.

So important was this action considered, that on the
return of the fleet to Spithead, the king himself came
down to Portsmouth and personally presented Lord Howe
with a sword; while various honours were bestowed upon
the principal officers engaged, gold medals being struck to
commemorate the glorious victory of the 1st of June; a

SIB SYDNEY SMITH AT TOULON. 2G7

liberal subscription being opened likewise for the relief of
the wounded officers, seamen, and marines, and also the
widows and children of those who fell in the action.

This victory early in the war was of the greatest con-
sequence, as it raised the spirits and confidence of the
British, while it proportionally depressed the enemy, and
proved the prelude of that succession of victories which at
length crushed the power of France and secured the safety
of England.

After the English had held Toulon for some time, in
consequence of the large force of republicans collected
round the city, it was found impossible to retain it.
Several thousand French royalists having been embarked,
it was resolved to destroy the arsenal and ships of war.
This dangerous task was undertaken by Sir Sidney Smith,
having under his command three English and three
Spanish gunboats and a tender, with the Vulcan fire-
ship. He proceeded into the harbour at dark ; the fire-
ship was first placed across the outer men-of-war in such a
position that she was certain to do effectual execution.
Scarcely had the signal been made for setting the trains
on fire, than the flames rose in all directions ; a magazine,
filled with pitch, tar, tallow, oil, and hemp, was quickly iu
a blaze; while the guns of the fire-ship went off in the
direction the enemy were approaching. The destruction
would have been more complete had not the Spaniards set
fire to two ships laden with powder, which they had beeu
directed to sink ; on board one of them, the Isis frigate,
there were some thousand barrels. In a few moments the
explosion took place; the air was filled with masses of
burning timber, which fell in all directions, and two of the
British boats were destroyed. The crew of one was taken
up, but in the other, Lieutenant Young, with three men,
perished, and many were badly wounded.

Notwithstanding this, Sir Sidney and his brave com-
panions destroyed ten of the enemy's ships of the line in
the arsenal, with the mast-house, the great storehouse,
and other buildings.

After this, Lord Hood proceeded to Hieres Bay, leaving
a small squadron to cruise before Toulon. Unfortunately,

268 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the Moselle, Captain Bennet, on her return from Gib-
raltar, passed through them, and not knowing that the
place was evacuated, entered the harbour and was
captured.

Some time after this, Captain Samuel Hood, in the
Juno frigate of 32 guns, who had been sent to Malta for
supernumeraries for the fleet — having been detained by a
succession of foul winds — also ignorant of what had
occurred, at ten in the evening stood into the outer road ;
not perceiving the fleet at anchor there, and concluding
that they had taken shelter within the new harbour from
a strong easterly gale which had lately been blowing,
steered for it. Having no pilot on board, two midshipmen
were stationed at each cathead to look out. Soon after,
several lights were seen, which were supposed to be those
of the fleet. The Juno accordingly stood on under her
topsails till she made out a brig which lay off Point Grand-
tour, when the captain, finding that he could not weather
her, set more sail. The brig, as he approached, hailed;
but no one understood what was said. Captain Hood,
in reply, gave the name and nation of his ship, upon which
the people on board the brig shouted "Viva!" and soon
after some one cried out "Luff." The Juno's helm on this
was put alee, but before the ship came head to wind, she
took the ground. Directly afterwards, a boat was observed
to pull from the brig towards the town, but even then her
object was not suspected. Happily, while the Juno' 8
people were still on the yards, a sudden flaw of wind
taking the ship, drove her astern. To help her off, the
driver and mizen-staysail were hoisted, and directly the
ship lost her way, an anchor was let go, but she still
touched the ground abaft. Accordingly, to get her off, the
launch and cutter were ordered to carry out a kedge-
anchor ahead. While the boats were still away, a boat
from the shore came alongside, out of which several officers
hurried on board. One of them informed Captain Hood
th'at it was the commanding officer's orders that the ship
should go into another branch of the harbour to perform
ten days' quarantine. From some of the remarks now
made, suspicions were aroused, and they were confirmed

ESCAPE OF THE * JUNO " FROM TOULON. 200

when, on a midshipman exclaiming, " Why, those are the
national cockades," the captain, looking at the French-
men's hats, discovered by the light of the moon the tri-
colours of the republicans. The captain again asking
where Lord Hood's squadron lay, one of the French
officers replied, " Soyez tranquilles. Les Anglais sont des
braves gens ; nous les traiterons bien. L'Amiral Anglais
est sorti il y a quelque temps." " Be calm. The English
are brave people ; we will treat them well. The English
admiral sailed some time ago."

It may easily be conceived what were Captain Hood's
feelings on hearing this. The alarming intelligence ran
through the ship; some of the officers hurried aft to
inquire if it were true. Happily, at this moment a flaw
of wind came down the harbour, when Mr. Welby, the
third lieutenant, said to Captain Hood, " I believe, sir,
that we shall be able to fetch out if we can get under
sail." Captain Hood at once determined to try what
could be done, and with great presence of mind imme-
diately ordered the crew to their respective stations, and
directed that the Frenchmen should be taken below. They
at first began to bluster, but the marines appearing with
their half-pikes, soon forced them down below. Such was
the alacrity of the officers and crew, that in less than three
minutes every sail in the ship was set, and the yards
braced for casting. The cable, being hove short, was cut,
the head sails filled, and the ship glided forward down the
harbour. At the same time, her own boats and that of
the Frenchmen were cut adrift, that they might not im-
pede her progress. A favourable flaw of wind now coming,
she got good way. The instant the brig saw the Juno
under sail, she and one of the forts began to fire on her,
and presently all the other forts, as their guns could be
brought to bear, opened fire. Still the frigate stood un-
dauntedly on; as she approached Cape Serpet, it was feared
that she would not be able to weather it without making
a tack, but the wind shifting so as to admit her lying up
two points, she scraped clear of the cape, under a heavy
fire from the batteries. As soon as Captain Hood was able
to keep the ship away, he opened a brisk fire on the

270 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

enemy, which he kept up till half-past twelve, when, being
out of shot, he ceased firing.

Notwithstanding the heavy cannonade the Juno had
passed through, not a man on board her was hurt ; and
though two 36-pound shot had struck her, no material
damage had been inflicted, nor had her rigging and sails
suffered much injury. Two days afterwards the Juno
joined Lord Hood's fleet in the Bay of Hieres. The cool-
ness and presence of mind which have been so often ex-
hibited by British naval officers was signally displayed
on this occasion ; and when we recollect that the Juno
was actually within the enemy's port, full of armed vessels,
with formidable batteries on either side of her, we must
acknowledge that the feat she accomplished is unsur-
passed in naval annals.

We must pass over the numerous gallant actions be-
tween small squadrons and single ships. Great difficulties
were experienced at this time in manning the navy; even
the press-gangs failed to obtain a sufficient number of men.
An Act was passed, therefore, on the 15th of March, 1795,
for raising 10,000 men in the several counties of England,
and on the 16th of April another was passed for procuring
a supply from the several ports of Great Britain ; and the
more effectually to enforce the Act, an embargo was laid
on all British shipping until the quota of men was raised.
To encourage men to come forward, enormous bounties
were offered by many of the counties and seaports, some-
times exceeding £30 for each able seaman. An Act was
also passed to enable those who came forward voluntarily
to allot part of their pay to the maintenance of their wives
and families. Seamen also were allowed to forward letters
home on the payment only of a penny; half-pay officers
and widows of officers were enabled to obtain their pay or
pensions free of charge.

Early in January of the next year Sir Sidney Smith,
while in command of the Diamond frigate, performed one
of those exploits which made his name notorious. .While
attached to the squadron of Sir John Borlase Warren, he
stood close into Brest, where he ascertained that the French
fleet were at sea. As he was standing off, a corvette which

SIR SYDNEY SMITH MADE PRISONER BY THE FRENCH. 271

was coming out of the harbour hove to and made a signal,
which not being answered by the Diamond, she hauled
her wind and worked in. Soon after this Sir Sidney
passed within hail of a line-of-battle ship at anchor. She
appeared to have no upper-deck guns mounted, and to be
very leaky. He asked her commander in French if she
wanted any assistance ; to which he answered, " No, that
he had been dismasted in a heavy gale, and had parted
with the French fleet three days ago." Some other con-
versation passed, after which, Sir Sidney crowded sail and
stood out to sea. So completely had he disguised his ship,
that the Frenchman had not the slightest suspicion of her
being an English man-of-war.

The following year, however, being on a cruise off Havre-
de-Grace, he discovered a lugger in the outer road. Having
taken her with the boats of his squadron, he attempted to
tow her off, but the flood-tide setting strong in, he was
compelled to anchor. In the night the cable either parted
or was cut by one of the prisoners, when the lugger, driving
a considerable way up the Seine, was attacked by several
gunboats and other armed vessels ; and Sir Sidney, after
making a gallant resistance, was compelled to surrender.
He was carried to Paris, and for long shut up in the
Temple ; but, with the aid of friends, he effected his escape
from prison, and reaching Havre-de-Grace, put off in an
open boat, when he was picked up by the Argo frigate, and
landed safe in Portsmouth on the 5th of March, 1798.

On the 1st of June, 1795, an alteration was made in the
uniform of naval officers, which continued for many years
afterwards. Those who can remember it can scarcely fail
to consider it the most becoming worn at any time in the
service. The rank of officers was now distinguished by
epaulettes. An admiral wore two gold epaulettes, with
three silver stars on each ; a vice-admiral had two stars,
and a rear-admiral one; a post-captain of above three
years standing wore two gold epaulettes, under three years,
one on the right shoulder, a master and commander, one
on the left shoulder, captains wore blue lapels and cuffs,
with lace as before, but on the undress coat neither lace
nor embroidery.

272 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

On the 4th of June his majesty appointed seven
superannuated or disabled lieutenants of the navy to be
poor knights of Windsor. This institution was founded by
Samuel Travers, who, in 1724, left a residuary estate in
trust for building or buying a house for their reception
near the castle of Windsor, bequeathing to each knight
£60 per annum, £26 of which is to be applied only for
keeping them a constant table. The first knight was
William Hogarth, whose commission bore the date of 1757,
so that he had been nearly forty years a lieutenant ; while
the next three had been thirty years lieutenants.

In the same year the masters in the navy received an
increase of half-pay, and their position was otherwise
improved.

Towards the end of the year an improved system of
telegraph, the invention of Lord George Murray, was in-
troduced on several heights leading from the coast to
London.

Post-captains were appointed as governors to the royal
hospitals of Haslar and Plymouth, and lieutenants to those
of Deal and Great Yarmouth.

One of the most gallant actions of the war was fought
at the commencement of this year in the West Indies.
The Blanche, a 32-gun 12-pounder frigate, commanded by
Captain Robert Faulkner, was cruising in the neighbour-
hood of Guadaloupe, when she chased a French armed
schooner, under a fort within a bay in the island of
Desirade'. The schooner brought up with springs to her
cables ; but, notwithstanding the fire of the fort and some
troops on shore, Captain Faulkner cut the schooner out
with his boats, and triumphantly carried her off. Manning
his prize, he sent her away to an English port, and was
next day joined by the Quebec frigate, which, however,
parted company. On the 4th at daybreak Captain Faulk-
ner discovered the French 32-gun frigate Pique, lying
at anchor just outside the harbour of Pointe-a-Petre in
Guadaloupe. Finding the French frigate, however, did not
appear inclined to come out from under the protection of
the batteries, the Blanche made sail towards a schooner,
which she captured and took in tow. She then stood over

THE " BLANCHE " CAPTURES THE " PIQUE." 273

for Dominico with her prize. Late in the evening, how-
ever, the French frigate was seen about two leagues astern,
upon which, Captain Faulkner, casting off the schooner,
tacked and made sail to meet her. At a quarter-past
twelve the Blanche tacked and came up with her. When
within musket-shot the enemy wore ; Captain Faulkner
seeing his intention was to rake him, wore also, when the
two frigates closely engaged broadside to broadside. A
fierce action now ensued for an hour and a-half, when, as
the Blanche, shooting ahead, was in the act of luffing up
to rake the Pique, her main and mizen masts fell over the
side. Directly after this, the Pique running foul of the
Blanche on her larboard-quarter, the French made several
attempts to board. They were, however, gallantly repulsed
by the British crew, and the larboard quarter-deck guns
and such of those on the main-deck as could be brought to
bear, were fired into the Pique's starboard bow, she answer-
ing in return with musketry from her tops, as also from
some of her quarter-deck guns, which had been run in amid-
ships fore and aft. The bowsprit of the Pique passing over
the starboard-quarter of the Blanche, Captain Faulkner,
aided by his second lieutenant and two others of his crew,
was in the act of lashing the Pique's bowsprit to her cap-
stern, when he was shot by a musket-ball through the heart.
Soon after this the lashings broke loose, when the Pique,
as she was crossing the stern of the Blanche, which began
to pay off for want of after-sail, again fell on board on the
starboard -quarter, her hawser having just before been got
on deck, the Pique's bowsprit was lashed to the stump of
the Blanche's mainmast. The first lieutenant, Mr. Frede-
rick Watkins, now took command, and kept the Blanche
before the wind, towing her opponent, while a hot fire was
kept up by the British marines on the French seamen who
attempted to cut away the second lashing. This was
returned from the forecastle and tops of the Pique, as well
as from the latter's quarter-deck guns pointed forward.
The Blanche having no stern-ports on the main-deck could
only return the fire by two quarter-deck 6-pounders.
Lieutenant Watkins accordingly resolved to venture on
the somewhat hazardous experiment of blowing away part

274 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of the stern to allow a couple of guns to be run out. The
firemen were called with their buckets ready to extinguish
the flames should they burst out, and two 12-pounders
being pointed astern in the cabin, soon made a clear
breach, through which a tremendous fire was opened on
the Pique's decks. The French frigate had already lost her
fore and mizen mast, and about three hours and a-quarter
after midnight, her main-mast fell over the side. Thus
the Blanche continued towing along her antagonist, which,
notwithstanding the raking fire to which she was exposed,
held out two hours longer ; when at length some of the
French seamen who had climbed on to the bowsprit cried
out that they had struck. Neither of the frigates being able
to put a boat in the water, Mr. David Milne, the second
lieutenant, and ten men, endeavoured to gain the prize
by means of a hawser still attached to her. Their weight,
however, bringing it down, they were compelled to swim
on board. When the Blanche commenced the action, she
had but 198 men and boys on board ; of these, besides her
gallant commander, she lost a midshipman, 5 seamen, and
1 marine killed, and 1 midshipman, 4 petty officers, and
1 2 seamen, and 4 marines wounded. The Pique had 279
men on board, of whom she lost 76 officers and men killed
and 110 wounded, her brave captain, who soon afterwards
died from his hurts, being among the number. The
Blanche measured 710 tons and the Pique 906, while the
weight of her guns was slightly in excess of that of the
victor. The Pique was added to the British Navy, and
Lieutenants Watkins and Milne were deservedly promoted.
About a quarter-of-an-hour after the action had ceased,
just after daylight, a 64-gun ship, the Veteran, was seen
approaching, and the French officers afterwards refused to
sign the usual head-money certificate unless the Veteran
was named as one of their captors, though they afterwards
withdrew their objections, which were absurd, considering
that though she had seen the flashes of their guns, she had
not caught sight of the combatants until the Pique was
in possession of her captors.

The change which had some time before been proposed
in the armament of British ships of war had now taken

THE " GLATTQN " ARMED WITH CARRONADES. 27-")

place, though at first, as has been the case with other
improvements, carronades were ohjected to on various
grounds, there were now few ships in the navy without
them. A whole class of ships, carrying 44 guns, were
armed on the main-deck with 32-pounder carronades,
instead of the long 6-pounders which they would otherwise
have carried. "A considerable increase was also made in
the size of ships. The largest launched at this date, the
Ville de Paris, to carry 110 guns, was somewhat smaller,
however, than the French 80-gun ships. Fourteen ships
of the line had been commissioned, and ten had been
purchased from the East India Company and armed with
54 guns, but, though well fitted for merchantmen, were
unsuitable for men-of-war. With one of them, however,
one of the most gallant actions on record was fought, about
the middle of this year, 1796. The Glatton, one of the
purchased Indiamen, of 1256 tons, commanded by Captain
Henry Trollope, and fitted on the main-deck with 28
carronades, 68-pounders, the rest of her guns being 32-
pounders, making altogether 54 guns ; but, as the ports
were too small to allow the larger guns to traverse properly,
and she had no bow or stern chasers, they could only be
pointed right abeam. Having been appointed to reinforce
the North Sea Fleet, under Admiral Duncan, she proceeded
from Sheerness to Yarmouth Roads, whence, on the 14th
of July, she was directed to sail to join a squadron of two
sail of the line and some frigates, under the command
of Captain Savage, of the Albion 64, cruising off the
Texel. At one in the afternoon of the 16th, being about
four or five leagues from Helvaetsluis, Captain Trollope
discovered a squadron of ships of war, consisting of six
large frigates, a brig, and a cutter. One of these, as far as
could be made out, mounted 50 guns, two 36, and the
other three 28. He was soon convinced, from the way in
which they manoeuvred, and from not answering the private
signal, that they were enemies. Not intimidated, however,
by their vast superiority, he at once cleared for action, and
bore down resolutely to attack them. The strangers on
this shortened sail, backing their mizen-topsails, in order
to keep their stations. At 10 P.M. Captain Trollope

•k-. ..•

276 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

having got alongside of the third ship in the enemy's line,
hailed her, and finding that she was French, ordered her
commander to strike his colours. Instead of doing so, he
immediately fired a broadside, on which the Glatton
poured into her antagonist, at a distance of thirty yards,
such a shower of shot as perhaps no ship had ever before
received. Her crew being insufficient to man her guns on
both sides, the allotment to each gun was divided into
gangs. One of these having loaded and run out the gun,
left the most experienced hands to point and fire it,
while they ran across and loaded and ran out the gun on
the opposite side. The two headmost French ships then
tacked, one placing herself alongside to windward, and the
other on the Qlatton's bow, while the other ships engaged
her on her lee-quarter and stern. A fierce cannonade was
kept up, the Glatton engaging on both sides so near, that
her yard-arms were nearly touching those of the enemy ;
the shrieks and cries which arose from them showing the
terrible effect of the Glatton s shot — though the French
commodore, at all events, exhibited no want of courage in
the way he fought his ship. Close to leeward was the Brill
shoal, on which the van-ship of the French, now tacking,
endeavoured to drive the Glatton. The French commodore,
with whom Captain Trollope had at first engaged, was still
on his lee bow, when the pilot exclaimed, that unless the
Glutton tacked she would be on the Brill. " When the
Frenchman strikes the ground, do you put the helm alee,"
was the answer. Directly afterwards the commodore tacked,
when, while he was in stays, the Glatton poured in a heavy
raking fire, and then endeavoured to come about, but so
damaged was she in her sails and rigging, that it was not
without difficulty she could do so. Notwithstanding that
her topmasts and yards were wounded, her crew, when
ordered to shorten sail, flew aloft with alacrity, executing
their task, in spite of the shot flying round them from
the nearest of the Frenchmen able to continue the action.
During this interval the Glatton's fire had ceased, and one of
the French ships stood towards her, in the hopes, probably,
of making her their prize, but the British crew hurrying to
their guns, soon undeceived them, and compelled their still

f HE " GLATTON " BEATS OFF A FRENCH SQUADRON. 277

remaining antagonists to follow their consorts. In attempt-
ing to wear after them, Captain Trollope found his masts,
rigging, and sails so much injured that all his efforts wero
ineffectual, or his gallantry would probably have been
rewarded by a complete victory. The remainder of the
night was spent in strengthening masts and yards, and in
bending fresh sails, and by seven o'clock the next morning
the ship was in a fit state to renew the action. The
enemy were at this time seen steering for Flushing ;
Captain Trollope continued to follow them till nine o'clock,
when, as he had no hopes of being joined by any other
ships, and the wind was blowing fresh on shore, he was
compelled to haul off and steer for Yarmouth Roads, where
he arrived on the 21st. It was afterwards discovered that
the French ships had all, more or less, suffered, some of
those that had taken the chief part in the action being
tremendously knocked about, their decks being ripped up
by the Olatton's shot ; one of them, indeed, sank on reach-
ing Flushing harbour. The largest, with which the
Glatton was chiefly engaged, was supposed to be the
Brutus, armed with 46 24-pounders on the main-deck, and
several 36-pounders on the quarter-deck and forecastle,
while she was fully 300 tons larger than the Glatton.
Though Captain Trollope might have relied on the weight
of metal his ship carried, yet his courage and decision in
sailing into the midst of six powerfully-armed opponents is
worthy of all admiration, and justly entitled him to the
honour of knighthood, which was conferred on him soon
afterwards by the king, while the merchants of London
presented him with a handsome piece of plate, to show
their appreciation of his courage.

In September of this year, the Amphion frigate, of 32
guns, commanded by Captain Pellew, lay refitting at
Plymouth. Her captain and two other officers were in the
cabin at dinner, when a rumbling noise was heard. The
captain, followed by his lieutenant, rushed into the quarter-
gallery — the instant afterwards the ship blew up; the
greater number of persons on board, amounting to nearly
300, perished, they and forty others only escaping with their
lives, many of them being severely injured. Great as was the

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

explosion, it had but a trifling effect on the ships near her.
Her masts (excepting the mizen-mast) were shivered to
pieces and forced out of the ship ; four of her main-deck
guns were cast upon the deck of the hulk alongside which
she lay ; and several bodies, pieces of the wreck, &c., were
thrown as high as her main-topgallant mast-head.

Another gallant action was fought on the 13th of
October by the Terpsichore frigate, of 32 guns and 215
men, commanded by Captain Richard Bowen. The Terpsi-
chore having left thirty men at the hospital, the greater
number being still dangerously ill on board, was cruising
off Carthagena, when at daylight Captain Bowen discovered
a large frigate to windward, apparently in chase of him.
Though so near an enemy's port, that even in the event of
a victory he could scarcely hope to carry off his prize,
trusting to his well-tried crew, he determined to meet the
foe. At half-past nine the stranger came within hail, and
hauled up on the Terpsichore's weather-beam. A fierce
action now ensued, and continued on both sides for an
hour and twenty minutes, when the enemy's fire began to
slacken, and she attempted to make off; but the superior
skill of Captain Bowen frustrated the attempt, and in less
than twenty minutes compelled her to surrender. When
taken possession of she proved to be the Mahonesa, a
Spanish frigate of 36 guns, besides cohorns and swivels,
manned with a crew of 275 men. She was completely
disabled, her main-deck guns were rendered entirely use-
less, the booms having fallen down upon them, while her
standing and running rigging was cut to pieces, she having
also lost thirty men killed and as many more wounded.
The Terpsichore had only the boatswain and three seam en
wounded. Captain Bowen spoke of the gallant way in
which the Spanish captain, Don Thomas Ayaldi, had
fought his ship, having held out as long as he had the
slightest prospect of victory. Notwithstanding her crippled
condition, Captain Bowen succeeded in carrying his prize
to Lisbon, but she was considered too much battered to be
worth the cost of a thorough repair.

Soon afterwards, Captain Bowen captured a French 36-
gun frigate, La Vestale, all her masts and her bowsprit being

MUTINY AT SPITHEAD. 279

knocked away, and a large proportion of her crew killed
and wounded. Being close to the shoals that lie between
Cape Trafalgar and Cadiz, the prize, with the Terpsichore's
master, one midshipman, and seven seamen, it having been
impossible to remove the French crew, drifted towards the
shore, where the master at length brought her tip, and
during the darkness the Terpsichore lost sight of her prize.
While attempting to tow her off the next day, the tow-
rope got foul of a rock and was cut. Soon after this the
Frenchmen rose on the prize crew and again anchored
close in shore. The next morning, when Captain Bowen
stood in to look for her, he had the mortification to see her
standing in to Cadiz, some Spanish boats having come off
and taken possession of her. La Vestale was, however, cap-
tured in the year 1799 by the gallant Captain Cunningham,
of the Clyde.

Passing over many interesting events, we come to one
which cannot be omitted in the history of the British
Navy. English seamen had long undoubtedly been sub-
jected to much ill-treatment. A large proportion of a
ship's company consisted of pressed men, compelled to
serve against their will. They were often harshly treated
by their officers ; they were badly fed, and but poorly paid,
and often punished ; while their necessaries were embezzled,
and they were cheated in a variety of ways. Towards the end
of February, 1797, while Lord Howe was on shore, several
petitions were sent up from the seamen at Portsmouth,
asking for an advance of wages. They were forwarded to
Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, but as they
were looked upon as forgeries, no notice was taken of
them. Lord Howe being unable from sickness to go
afloat, Lord Bridport took command of the fleet, when the
seamen, supposing their complaints to be disregarded,
refused to put to sea. On the 17th of March, every man
in the fleet having sworn to support the cause, the mutiny
broke out. Ropes were reeved at the foreyard-arms of the
Queen Charlotte, and the mutineers were about to hang
the first lieutenant of the ship, when Lord Bridport saved
him. They, however, turned all the officers out of the
fleet who had behaved in any way to offend them. Two

280 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

delegates were appointed from each ship to represent the
whole fleet, and the admiral's cabin in the Queen
Charlotte was fixed upon as the place for their delibera-
tions. On the 21st Admirals Gardner, Colpoys, and Pole
went on board the Queen Charlotte in order to confer with
the delegates. These men assured the admirals that no
arrangement would be considered as satisfactory till it
should be sanctioned by the king and parliament, and
guaranteed by a proclamation for a general pardon. So
irritated did Admiral Gardner become on hearing this, that
he seized one of the delegates and swore that he would
have them all hanged with every fifth man throughout
the fleet. This so exasperated the crew that it was with
difficulty Admiral Gardner escaped with his life from the
ship. The red or bloody flag was now seen flying from
the Royal George, and that of Lord Bridport was struck.
The mutineers also loaded all the guns, keeping a watch
the same as at sea ; every officer being detained on board
his respective ship. In a few days, however, the seamen,
hearing that their petitions were likely to be attended to,
returned to their duty. Admiral Bridport rehoisted his
flag on board the Royal George, and informed the seamen
that he had brought with him the redress of their griev-
ances and his majesty's pardon for the offenders. It was
now hoped that all matters in dispute were settled ; but
the seamen, fancying that notwithstanding the admiral's
assurances, they were to be neglected, again refused when
ordered to weigh anchor. Admiral Colpoys, on this,
ordered the marines to prevent the delegates from coming
on board. The latter attempted to force their way, when
the marines fired, and five seamen were killed and one of
their officers wounded. On this the crew of the London
turned the guns in the fore part of the ship aft, and
threatened to blow the officers, and all who stood by them,
into the water. Seeing that resistance was hopeless, the
officers surrendered, and the admiral and captain were
confined in their cabins. Happily, on the 8th of May, a
resolution of the House of Commons was passed, and the
king's free pardon being communicated to the seamen,
they became satisfied, the red flag was struck, the officers

BATTLE OF CAPE ST. VINCENT. 281

were reinstated in their commands, and the whole fleet
put to sea the next day to look out for the enemy. Lord
Bridport had been ordered to keep at sea as much as
possible, and only to return when necessary to refit or
revictual. This plan succeeded, and the seamen generally
obeyed their officers and conducted themselves properly.

At Plymouth the ships' companies exhibited a mutinous
disposition, but, after a time, they accepted the terms
offered to the seamen at Portsmouth, and tranquillity was
restored.

While these things were occurring at home, Sir John
Jervis, with about 15 sail of the line, 4 frigates, 2 sloops
of war, and a cutter, after putting into the Tagus, was
cruising off Cape St. Vincent. While there, a Spanish
fleet of 25 sail of the line, 11 frigates, and a brig, came
through the Straits of Gibraltar, bound for Cadiz. On
the 14th of February, before dawn, a Portuguese frigate
brought intelligence to the admiral that a Spanish fleet
was about five leagues to windward. The English fleet
was formed in two compact divisions; in one of them
was the Captain, with the broad pendant of Horatio
Nelson. It appeared that the Spaniards had at first sup-
posed that the fleet in sight was part of a convoy. Some
days before an American, which had passed through
the British fleet before Admiral Sir Hyde Parker had
joined with five ships of the line, while another, the Cul-
loden, was absent in chase, had given the information that
the English admiral had only nine sail of the line. The
morning broke dark and hazy, and the Spaniards obtaining
but a partial view of the British fleet, were fully confirmed
in their mistake, and believed that they should surround
the whole British squadron and carry them in triumph into
Cadiz. Notwithstanding the more just estimate that Sir
John Jervis had of his opponents, he lost no time in
endeavouring to bring them to action. The main body of
the Spanish fleet came down under all sail, with the wind
on the starboard-quarter, while the ships to leeward, close
hauled on the same tack, were endeavouring to join them
there. Admiral Jervis formed his line close hauled on the
starboard tack, steering straight for the opening between the

282 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

two divisions of the Spanish fleet. The Culloden, the lead-
ing ship, commanded by Captain Troubridge,had the honour
of commencing the battle about half-past eleven ; the other
British ships following, effectually cut off a part of the
Spanish fleet from the main body, and compelled them to
form on the larboard tack, with the intention of passing
through or to leeward of the British line ; but they Were
met with so warm a reception from the centre of the British
that they were obliged to tack, and were unable again to
get into action till towards the close of the day. Admiral
Jervis now devoted all his attention to the main body of
the enemy's fleet to windward, which was reduced at this
time, by the separation of the ships to leeward, to eighteen
sail of the line. A little after twelve o'clock the signal
was made for the British fleet to tack in succession, and
soon after the signal for again passing the enemy's line ;
while the Spanish admiral's design appeared to be to join
the ships to leeward by wearing round to the rear of the
British line. The intention of the enemy was, however,
soon perceived by Commodore Nelson, who, being in the
rear, had an opportunity of observing this manoeuvre. In
order to frustrate the design, he had no sooner passed the
Spanish rear than he wore and stood on the other tack
towards the enemy. In executing this bold and decisive
manoeuvre, the commodore found himself alongside of the
Spanish admiral in the Santissima Trinidad, of 136 guns.
Notwithstanding this immense disparity, Nelson Was not
the man to shrink from the contest, though the Spaniard
was ably supported by her two seconds ahead and astern,
each of which was a three-decker. While Nelson sustained
this unequal conflict, Troubridge in the Culloden, and
Captain Frederick in the Blenheim, were coming to his
assistance. Sir John Jervis had ordered Captain Colling-
wood in the Excellent to bear up, while he passed to lee-
ward of the rearmost ships of the enemy. As he did so,
he gave the San Ysidro so effectual a broadside that she
was compelled to submit. Captain Collingwood then
passed on to the relief of Nelson, but before he arrived,
the Spaniard's mizen-mast fell overboard and she got
entangled with her second, the San Nicolas, a ship of 84

tfELSON CAPTURES THE "ST. NICOLAS " AND "ST. JOSEF." 283

guns. On this, Nelson determined to board the San
Nicolas, and the Captain was so judiciously placed by
Captain Miller, her commander, that he laid her aboard on
the starboard-quarter of the Spanish 84, her spritsaiJ.-yard
passing over the enemy's poop, and hooking in her mizen-
shrouds. Nothing can surpass Nelson's own description
of wha,t now took place. Calling for the boarders, he
ordered them on board : — " The soldiers of the 69th regi-
ment, with an alacrity which will ever do them credit, and
Lieutenant Pearson of the same regiment, were almost the
foremost on this service. The first man who jumped into
the enemy's mizen-chains was Captain Berry, late my first
lieutenant (Captain Miller was in the very act of going
also, but I directed him to remain). A soldier of the 69th
regiment having broken the upper-quarter gallery window,
jumped in, followed by myself and others as fast as possible.
I found the cabin doors fastened, and some Spanish officers
fired their pistols at us through the windows ; but having
burst open the doors, the soldiers fired, and the Spanish
brigadier (or commodore) fell as he was retreating to the
quarter-deck. I found Captain Berry in possession of the
poop, and the Spanish ensign hauling down. I passed with
my people and Lieutenant Pearson along the larboard
gangway to the forecastle, where I met several Spanish
officers prisoners to my seamen, and they delivered me
their swords. At this moment, a fire of pistols or muskets
opening from the admiral's stern-gallery in the San Josef,
I directed the soldiers to fire into her stern. Our seamen
by this time were in full possession of every part of the
ship. About seven of my men were killed, and some few
wounded, and about twenty Spaniards. Having placed
sentinels at the different ladders, and calling to Captain
Miller, ordering him to send more men into the San
Nicolas, I directed my brave fellows to board the first-
rate, the San Josef, which was done in an instant, Captain
Berry assisting me into the main-chains.

"At this moment a Spanish officer looked over the
quarter-deck rail, and said they surrendered. From this
most welcome intelligence, it was not long before I was on
the quarter-deck, when the Spanish captain, with bended

284 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

knee, presented me his sword, and told me the admiral
was dying of his wounds below. I asked him on his
honour if the ship had surrendered. He declared she
had ; on which I gave him my hand, and desired him to call
his officers and ship's company and tell them of it, which
he did ; and on the quarter-deck of a Spanish first-rate,
extravagant as the story may seem, did I receive the swords
of vanquished Spaniards, which, as I received, I gave to
William Fearney, one of my barge-men, who tucked them,
with the greatest sang-froid, under his arm."

Immediately on Nelson's return on board the Captain,
he made the signal for boats to assist in disengaging her
from the prizes, and as she was rendered incapable of
further service until refitted, he hoisted his pennant for
the moment on board the Minerve frigate. In the mean-
time Admiral Jervis ordered the Victory to be placed on
the lee-quarter of the rearmost ship of the enemy, the
Salvador del Mundo, and threw in so effectual a broad-
side that the Spanish commander, seeing the Barfleur
bear down to second the Victory, struck his flag. He was
very nearly capturing the Santissana Trinidad, but the
rest of the Spanish fleet, hitherto uninjured, coming down,
he found it necessary to secure his prizes and bring to.
All these ships did was to open an ineffectual fire, and
then to sail away, leaving the British to carry off their
prizes in triumph. The English ships lost in killed and
wounded only 300 men, while on board the ships captured
the Spanish killed and wounded amounted to 697. Just
honours were showered on the victorious admirals and
captains; Sir John Jervis was created a peer of Great
Britain, under the titles of Baron Jervis of Meaford and
Earl St. Vincent ; and among others, Commodore Nelson,
who had just before been made a vice-admiral, received
the insignia of the Bath.

It had been believed that the mutinous spirit of the
seamen had been quelled by the concessions made to them,
but such, it was soon found, was not the case. On the
20th of May most of the ships lying at the Nore, and
nearly all of those belonging to the North Sea Fleet,
hoisted the red flag. The mutineers at Sheerness, like

MUTINY AT THE NORE. 285

those at Spitliead, had chosen two delegates from every
ship, and had appointed as a president over them a man
of the name of Richard Parker ; while on board each ship
was a committee of twelve men, who decided on all the
affairs relative to its internal management. They declared
themselves dissatisfied with the terms accepted by the sea-
men of Portsmouth, and demanded a more just division of
prize-money, more regular and frequent payment of wages,
and also permission to go on shore when in port, with
several other conditions. This statement they required
Vice- Admiral Buckner, whose flag was flying on board the
Sandwich, of 90 guns, to transmit without delay to the
Admiralty, and they declared that only when its conditions
were complied with would they return to their duty. So
bold did they become that they went on shore without
interruption, parading* Sheerness with music and flags, in-
viting the crews of other ships to join them ; while they
had their headquarters in a public-house, above which a
red flag was hoisted. To put a stop to this, some regi-
ments were sent for, when they thought it prudent to keep
to their ships. All communication with the shore being
stopped, the mutineers supplied themselves with water
and provisions from the merchant-vessels which they
brought to, while they allowed none to proceed up to
London, completely blockading the port. Throughout the
whole of the mutiny the seamen behaved respectfully to
their superior officers, while the strictest discipline was
kept up on board all the ships. On the king's birthday
the seamen even exhibited their loyalty by firing a grand
salute from all the ships, which were decorated in the
manner usual on festive occasions.

Conciliatory measures for inducing the seamen to return
to their duty were tried in vain. The Government, how-
ever, would not yield to any of their demands, and the
seamen on board most of the ships at length finding their
cause hopeless, hauled down the red flag. Some had pre-
viously made their escape from their midst. Ultimately,
the crew of the Sandwich carried their ship under the
guns of Sheerness, when a guard of soldiers coming on
board, Parker, their ringleader, was delivered up. He,

286 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with the chief culprits, was tried, convicted, and executed ;
others were flogged through the fleet, and many were im-
prisoned for certain periods, a general pardon being granted
to the seamen who had been misled by them.

Wide as was the spread of the mutiny, whole ships'
companies remained true to their colours. Among these
crews who remained loyal, that of the St. Fiorenzo deserves
especially to be mentioned, and an account written by the
late Admiral Mitford, who was then a midshipman on
board her, cannot fail to prove interesting. " She was,"
says Admiral Mitford, " the favourite frigate of his majesty
George the Third, who, from his courtesy and kind manner
towards the ship's company, had endeared himself to them.
This may in some degree account for the loyalty of the
men, strengthened by their unbounded attachment to one
of the most humane, brave, and zealous commanders that
ever walked a deck — one to whom every man looked up
as a father, the late Admiral Sir Harry Burrard Neale.
A better lesson cannot be given to a young officer to show
that by kindness and firmness that desirable object may
be attained which was so eminently proved during one of
the most eventful periods of this country. The St. Fiorenzo
was at Spithead when the first mutiny broke out, and the
red flag was hoisted on board the Queen Charlotte. The
day before that event the men came and informed Sir
Harry of what was to take place, but that he might rely
on their loyalty, and as far as was consistent with prudence,
that they would obey every order from the officers, to which
resolution they most scrupulously adhered. While such
was the state of affairs, the St. Fiorenzo having received
orders to proceed to Sheerness for the purpose of fitting
out to carry over the Princess Royal, then Duchess of
Hesse Homburgh, to Cuxhaven, after her marriage, the
mutineers allowed her to sail without attempting to stop
her. Their demands having been acceded to by the Govern-
ment, the men, just as we were sailing, returned to their
duty. Notwithstanding the loyalty of our crew, two of
the delegates, thoroughly trustworthy men, had been
chosen, with Sir Harry's permission, who regularly brought
him all the information they could obtain. On our arrival

LOYALTY OF THE " ST. FIOEENZO'S " CREW. 287

at Sheerness, we found the red flag still flying on board
the Sandwich guard-ship, and supposing that her crew
had not been informed of what had taken place at Spit-
head, our delegates went on board to explain, and were
surprised and disgusted to find that fresh demands had
been made by the North Sea Fleet, and of so frivolous a
nature, that from some remarks made by our men, perhaps
not very courteous, their zeal in the cause was suspected,
and consequently the mutineers were very jealous of our
crew. On returning on board, our delegates immediately
communicated with the Clyde, an old fellow-cruiser, com-
manded by Captain Cunningham, who also enjoying the
confidence of his ship's company, an agreement took place
between the respective captains and their crews, that
should the disaffection of the mutineers continue, they
would leave them and run under cover of the forts at
Sheerness. I should say that I believe a very small pro-
portion of the men were disaffected, and, as on most public
outbreaks, the majority were dictated to by a few desperate
and disappointed men. Parker had been shipmate with
a considerable number of the St. Fiorenzo's crew, and
they had a great contempt for him. He had been acting-
lieutenant in some ship with them, and was dismissed for
drunkenness. If a little energy had been used on some of
the opportunities that offered, the whole affair might have
been quashed.

" Having got leave to go on shore from the delegates of
our ship, I landed and passed through the dockyard,
followed by the whole of the delegates of the fleet, Parker
and Davis walking together in procession. When outside
the gates, they saw the Lancashire fencibles coming to
strengthen the garrison, to whom they offered every insult
they could devise. On this the officer in command halted
his men, and coming up to the admiral and commissioner,
who were standing opposite the gates, asked, so I under-
stood him, whether he might be permitted to surround the
delegates, complaining of the insults offered to himself and
his men. On this I involuntarily exclaimed, ' Now's the
time;' when the admiral asked me what I meant, and
how I dared to speak ? I said, * These are all the dele-

288 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

gates/ pointing out to them Parker and Davis and others.
The fellows overheard me, and I have no doubt I became
a marked man. I may congratulate myself on the event
which carried us away from the fleet, otherwise I might
have suffered what others did, and been yard-armed,
tarred, and feathered ; but I feel justified in saying that,
had my suggestion been acted upon, there would have
been an end of the mutiny at the Nore. Returning on
board I found that every arrangement had been made, and
the Clyde being the in-shore ship, was to move first, which
she did, and ran under the batteries ; when, either from in-
competency or fear, our pilot refused to take charge of
the ship, and the tide being on the turn to ebb, Sir Harry
Neale thought it advisable to wait for a more favourable
opportunity. In the meantime we were visited by the
delegates of some of the leading ships, who abused our
crew for permitting the Clyde to escape without our firing
upon her. So incensed did the men become at this, that
one of the quartermasters, John Ainslie, came aft, and
asked the first lieutenant whether they might not throw
the blackguards overboard, which, I doubt not, a nod of
assent would have effected.

" The mutineers now gave orders to our crew to place
the frigate between the Inflexible and Director, to send our
gunpowder on board the Sandwich, Admiral Parker as he
was called, and to unbend our sails, with which orders our
people agreed to comply. Sir Harry was immediately
acquainted with the circumstances, and he at once arranged
that the ship, instead of doing so, should run into Sheer-
ness. When all was prepared, with springs to our cables
to cast in shore, and we were ready to cut, in heaving the
spring broke, and we cast outward. Sir Harry, whose
presence of mind never forsook him, on this directed the
quartermaster to take the command and he would dictate
to him. All was sheeted home in a moment, and we stood
in between the two line-of-battle ships, which had their guns
double-shotted, their crews being all ready with laniards
in hand to fire upon us. The ship by that time had got
good way, when Sir Harry gave the order to let fly all the
sheets, which took the mutineers by surprise, and suppos-

ESCAPE OF THE "ST. FIORENZO" FROM THE MUTINEERS. 289

ing that the ship was coming to an anchor, they did not
fire. Sir Harry then ordered the helm to be put hard
a-port, which caused the ship to shoot ahead of the Inflex-
ible. He now came on deck and took the command, cry-
ing out to the ship's company, " Well done, my lads ! "
when a loud murmur of applause was heard fore and aft ;
but we had no time to cheer. " Now, clear away the bulk-
heads, and mount the guns," he cried. By this time the
whole fleet of 32 sail had opened their fire upon us. The
shot fell like hail, but, whether intentionally or not, few
struck our hull. It was reported that the Director fired
blank cartridges or she might have done us more injury ;
but I believe that her crew, struck with awe at the idea of
firing on their countrymen, and also with admiration of
their bravery, fired wide. In little more than two hours
the bulkheads were cleared away from the cabin door to
the break of the quarter-deck, the whole space having been
fitted up with cabins for the suite of her royal highness,
the guns on both sides being also down in the hold. The
guns were mounted and we were ready for action. The
men now came aft and begged that, should the mutineers
come after them, they might go down with the ship rather
than return to .the fleet at the Nore. Our master, although
a good pilot, did not feel himself justified in taking charge
of the ship within the boundaries of a branch pilot. We
were therefore on the look-out for a pilot-vessel, when a
lugger was discovered on the lee-bow, and we were on the
point of bearing down on her, when we saw the North
Sea Fleet coming with the red flag flying, having left their
station in a state of mutiny, the admiral and all the officers
being under arrest. A frigate bore down to us, when Sir
Harry gave the speaking-trumpet to the quartermaster
Stanley, and when she hailed as to what we were doing there,
he replied that we were looking out to stop the ships with
provisions for the fleet. She then proceeded, and joined
the fleet again, and we made sail after the lugger. The
necessary signals were made, but not being answered, we
gave chase, and, after a run of four hours, captured tne
Castor and Pollux, a French vessel of 16 guns. We were
proceeding to Portsmouth with our prize, when she, being

290 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to windward, spoke a brig, who informed us that the
mutiny had again broken out at Spithead. Sir Harry on
this thought it prudent to anchor under Dungeness until
he could communicate with the Admiralty. During the
night, as we lay there, a ship was seen bearing down
towards us, which, however, answered the private signals ;
but that could not be depended upon, as it was probable
that the mutineers would have possessed themselves of
them. We accordingly beat to quarters. The men again
repeated their request to sink rather than surrender to
the mutineers. The stranger appeared high out of the
water, and we could not be certain whether she might not
be a line-of-battle ship. The wind being very light, she
closed slowly. The suspense was awful. The springs were
hove on to keep our broadside to bear. Sir Harry hailed,
and her answer was, " The Hussar frigate, Lord Garlies,
from the West Indies." Having come from a long voyage,
her appearance was accounted for. Seeing the lights at
all our port-holes, those on board the frigate could not
understand the necessity of such extreme precautions,
being, of course, ignorant of the mutiny. When her men
were acquainted with our situation, they were so struck
with the bravery and determination of the St. Fiorenzo's
ship's company that they immediately said, should any
ship be sent to bring us back, they would share our fate.
None, however, came, and in a few days we heard that the
mutiny was at an end, and we sailed, I think, for Plymouth,
and another ship was ordered to take over the Princess of
Hesse-Homburg."

By the daring and determination of another captain,
Sir Henry Trollope, he prevented his ship's company from
joining the mutineers. He had been removed from the
Glatton to the Russell, 74, one of the North Sea Fleet,
which lay in Yarmouth Roads. On hearing that his crew
were about to join the mutineers, he came to the resolu-
tion of compelling them, by a proceeding of the most
desperate character, to obey his orders. Providing himself
with provisions and water, a compass and a chart, and a
brace of pistols, he secretly entered the powder-magazine.
Besides the door at the entrance, there was a grate,

HEROISM OF CAPTAIN TROLLOPE. 291

through which he could look into the outer apartment.
Seating himself with his pistols in his hand, he sent for
the delegates, and ordered them at once to get the ship
under way, to carry her out to sea. " You know me, my
lads," he said, calmly ; " we have been ordered to proceed
to the Tex el, and these orders must be obeyed. Sooner
than have her name disgraced, I will blow her and all on
board up into the air. Return on deck and attend to
your duty."

The mutineers looked aghast, but they knew their cap-
tain, and of what he was capable, too well to disobey him.
They could not have molested him, even had they dared.
The crew, obeying their officers, while the captain sat far
below in the magazine, their guiding spirit, got the ship
under way, and stood out to sea — the rest of the ships,
either not aware of what she was about, or not venturing
to interfere with her. In a short time she joined Admiral
Duncan, who, with his flag flying on board the Venerable,
was blockading the Texel. He had been left with only
his own ship and the Adamant, keeping in check a Dutch
fleet of 15 sail of the line, under Admiral de Winter. In
order to prevent the Dutch from coming out, Admiral
Duncan made use of a ruse, frequently repeating signals,
as if communicating with the main body of his fleet in the
offing. At length he was joined by other line-of-battle
ships, but his fleet, severely battered by bad weather, and
being short of provisions, had to put back into Yarmouth
Roads, while Captain Trollope remained with a small
.squadron to watch the enemy. He continued there till
the 9th of October, when information was brought that
the Dutch fleet was at sea. He immediately sailed, and
having looked into the Texel, on the llth the Russell
and other ships were seen with the signal flying at their
mast-heads that the enemy was in sight to leeward. The
Dutch fleet stood away, however, towards the coast of
Suffolk, when, finding that the English admiral was within
seven leagues of him, he sailed back towards Camper-
down, followed by the English look-out frigates. De
Winter now formed a close line of battle, and resolutely
awaited Admiral Duncan. The British fleet on this bore

292 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

down on the enemy, with the signal flying for close action.
The Monarch, leading the larboard division of the British
fleet, first cut the Dutch line, pouring in well-directed
broadsides on the ships on either side of her. The action
soon became general ; one after the other the Dutch ships
were compelled to strike. One of them, the Hercules,
catching fire, the crew threw overboard their powder, and
were therefore obliged to surrender their ship. The Dutch
admiral's ship, the Vryheid, held out gallantly to the last,
but was at length compelled to yield, when the rest of
the ships which had not yet struck their colours, did their
best to make off. By this time the English were in
possession of two seventy-fours, five sixty-fours, two fifties,
and two frigates. The escaping enemy could not be
pursued, for the land was close aboard, and the fleet in
nine fathoms water. All the victors could do, therefore,
was to secure their prizes, and to endeavour to get clear
of the shore before nightfall. The Dutchmen had fought
gallantly, aiming at the hulls of the British ships, which
were fearfully shattered, and in all of them numerous shots
were found sticking; though the masts and rigging were
but comparatively little injured. The English lost 228
killed and 812 wounded, including many officers, and the
Dutch 540 killed and 620 wounded. Of the whole Dutch
fleet seven only escaped, and five of these were afterwards
captured. With regard to the number of their guns, the
two fleets were almost equal — the English ships carrying
altogether 1150 guns, and the Dutch 1034 ; besides which,
the latter had some corvettes and brigs which took part
in the action, and greatly annoyed their opponents, though
their guns were not counted. The victory of Camperdown
was gained by the very men who had taken part in the
mutiny. On the news reaching England, all those still
under sentence were pardoned.

During this year occurred the unfortunate attack on
Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe, when, in attempting
to land on the mole, Nelson lost an arm, and the gallant
Captain Bowen, with several lieutenants, was killed, many
of the boats being sunk and their crews perishing.

In the year 1798 the French made three attempts to

FRENCH PRISONERS IN ENGLAND. 293

land armies in Ireland, but on each occasion their fleets
were driven back, and many of their ships were captured.
A previous attempt had been made in 1796, when they
were scattered and discomfited by the weather. The
second succeeded in landing a body of troops ; the greater
number were killed, and the survivors were made prisoners.
In the third, the Hoche, under the command of Commodore
Bompart, was captured, as were several frigates of his
squadron; while the fourth, finding the warm reception
the troops would meet with should they attempt to land,
put back into port.

At this time there were no less than 30,000 French
prisoners in England, and by an agreement with their own
government, which was to support them, it was arranged
they should reside at Portsmouth, Plymoujth, Norman Cross,
Liverpool, Edinburgh, Chatham, and Stapleton. Arrange-
ments were made towards the end of the war for the
exchange of prisoners, but it was found that there were
only 2800 English in France. The French Directory now
issued a decree declaring that all persons natives of, or
originally belonging to, neutral countries, or countries in
alliance with France, serving on board any English ship,
should be tried as pirates. The English Government, in
retaliation, threatened to treat all subjects of the French
Republic in the same manner, should the savage order be
carried out. This threat had the desired effect.

Bonaparte had been for some time planning a campaign
in Egypt. Sailing with a large fleet from Toulon, he first
captured Malta, and then proceeded to Alexandria, won-
derfully escaping Earl St. Vincent and Vice- Admiral Sir
Horatio Nelson. Napoleon having landed, his fleet, under
Admiral Brueys, brought up in Aboukir Bay. Here Nelson
found the French on the 8th of August, drawn up at anchor
in order of battle, and at 3 P.M. he threw out the signal to
prepare for the fight, followed an hour afterwards with
orders to anchor by the stern with springs to their cables.
Another signal was shortly afterwards made to signify that
the admiral meant to attack the enemy's van and centre.
At 6 P.M. Nelson signalised to the fleet to fill and stand on,
which they did in admirable order, the Goliath leading ;

294 POPtfLAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

when, soon afterwards hoisting their colours, with the Union
Jack in several parts of the rigging, the British ships
took up the stations allotted to them. At 6.20 P.M. the
Conqudrant, followed by the Guerrier, opened her fire
upon the Goliath and Zealous, which was quickly answered
by those ships ; but the sun had already sunk into the ocean
before any other British ship had fired a shot. Loud cheers
now burst from every ship of the English fleet, when the
men, flying to their guns, opened their broadsides with a
spirit which soon knocked away the masts and spars of their
opponents, and spread death and destruction on board their
ships. The action had continued for two hours, several
French ships having struck, when a fire was perceived on
board the Orient, which in an hour afterwards blew up with
a tremendous explosion, the burning wreck falling far and
wide around, and setting fire to several ships, friends and
foes, in the neighbourhood. So awful was the effect, that
for ten minutes not a gun was fired on either side. Thus
the battle raged all night long, till soon after dawn the
French frigate Artemise, after striking her colours, also
caught fire, and with a terrific explosion blew up.

In the morning the enemy's ships still in a condition to
make sail got under way and endeavoured to escape. Of
the thirteen French ships of the line, by this time, one had
blown up, eight had surrendered, and two had escaped. Of
the remaining two, one, the Timole'on, was on shore, with
her colours flying ; the other, the Tonnant, lay about two
miles from her, a mere wreck, but also with her colours up.
On the approach, however, of the Theseus and Leander,
she hauled them down ; while the crew of the Timoldon
set her on fire, and she soon afterwards blew up. Thus, in
the memorable "Battle of the Nile," the French lost eleven
line-of-battle ships, besides frigates. In this action the
British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded. Among the
latter was Horatio Nelson, who was struck above his already
darkened eye by a splinter ; while all the ships were con-
siderably cut up. On board the Orient fell the Commodore
Casa Bianca, as well as his gallant young son, who had
refused to quit his post; and the French commander-in-
chief, Brueys, who, after receiving two severe wounds, was

BATTLE OF THE NILE. 295

nearly cut in two by a shot. While still breathing, he
desired not to be carried below, but to be left to die upon
deck, exclaiming in a firm voice, " Un amiral Fran$ais doit
mourir sur sou bane de quart." "A French admiral ought
to die on his quarter-deck."

While the ship was in flames, the boats of the British
ships put off to save the hapless crew, seventy of whom were
thus rescued. The heroic conduct of the captain of the
Tonnant, Du Petit Thonars, deserves to be recorded. He
first lost both his arms, and then one of his legs; even
then, still able to speak, he gave his dying commands to his
crew not to surrender the ship. Of the English fleet, the
Culloden unhappily got on shore while going into action,
and only by great exertions did she get off, after the
battle was over. That the French fought with the utmost
gallantry is acknowledged by all, while we must rank the
victory of the Nile among the most brilliant achievements
of the British Navy.

After the battle every effort was made to repair the
damages the ships had received, and to fit the prizes for
the voyage to England. Nelson sent the prisoners taken
on board them on shore in a cartel, on their parole not to
serve again during the war ; but Napoleon, with his usual
disregard for treaties, formed them into a battalion, which
he called the " nautic." Three of the prizes, being in too
shattered a condition to be refitted, were burnt ; another,
the Peuple-Souverain, being considered unfit to proceed
farther than Gibraltar, was there turned into a guard-ship.
The five remaining vessels arrived safely at Plymouth ;
three of them being new and magnificent ships, the
Tonnant, Franklin, and Spartiate, were added to the
British Navy, the name of the former being changed
to Canopus. Rewards were liberally bestowed upon the
victors ; Sir Horatio Nelson was created a peer of Great
Britain by the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile and of
Burnham Thorpe, while a pension was settled on him of
£2000 a-year by the English Parliament, and £1000
a-year by the Irish ; the East India Company presenting
him with £10,000.

After the defeat of his fleet at Aboukir, Napoleon

296 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

determined to invade Syria. His plans, however, were
thwarted by Sir Sidney Smith, who having captured the
fleet which was bringing the battering-cannon and ammuni-
tion from Damietta for the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, made
use of it to fortify that town, into which, with a small body
of seamen and a few officers, he threw himself, and put it
into a state of defence, while he organised the Turkish
tsoops who formed its garrison. Napoleon, obtaining fresh
guns, in a short time laid siege to Acre. Tho(ugh he made
several desperate attempts to storm it, they were on each
occasion repulsed by the valour of the Turks, aided by the
fire from the English and sultan's ships. During one of the
many engagements the Theseus frigate caught fire, and the
poop and after-part of the ship was almost blown to pieces,
several of her officers and men being killed. The fire was
put out by the courage of the surviving officers and crew.

Napoleon, enraged at his defeat, made every effort to
destroy Sir Sidney Smith. Two attempts to assassinate
him, however, happily failed. At length an Arab dervish
appeared with a letter to the pacha, proposing a cessation
of arms for the purpose of burying the dead bodies, which
in vast numbers were piled up under the ramparts. While
this proposal was under consideration, with unexampled
treachery, Napoleon attempted to storm the town; but
the garrison were on the alert, and the assailants were
driven back with great slaughter. The Arab tribes having
been induced to cut off the supply of provisions for the
French army, on the 20th of May Napoleon raised the
siege, and leaving his guns behind him, precipitately re-
treated towards Egypt. Such is a brief outline of one of
the most daring exploits ever performed by a naval man.

Of a very different character, though one in which com-
summate bravery was displayed, was the cutting out of
the Hermione frigate. She had been in the year 1799
under the command of Captain Hugh Pigot, one of those
tyrant commanders who are truly said to make their ships
" hells afloat." While cruising off Porto Rico, as the crew
were reefing top-sails, the captain shouted that he would
flog the last man off the mizen-topsail yard. Two, in their
attempt to spring over their comrades' backs, missing their

tflE " HEKMIONE " SEIZED BY MUTINEERS. 297

hold, fell on the quarter-deck and were killed. The
captain, it is said, on seeing it, merely observed, " Throw
the lubbers overboard." The crew, who were probably a
bad lot to begin with, for such a captain could not have
obtained a good ship's company, from a long succession of
tyrannical acts, had become infinitely worse. The next
day they rose on their officers, murdered the greater
number, including the captain, and carried the ship into
La Guayra, a port of the Spanish Main. Hearing that
the Hei*mione, which had been fitted out by the Spaniards
and strongly armed, was lying in the harbour of Puerto
Cabello, Captain Hamilton, commanding the Surprise, a
28-gun frigate, determined to cut her out. Coming off
the port on the 21st of October, he discovered her moored
head and stern between two strong batteries on either
side of the harbour, with her sails bent and ready for sea.
After waiting off the port till the 24th without mentioning
his intentions, he addressed his crew, reminding them of
many enterprises they had undertaken, and pointing out
to them that unless they should at once attempt the
capture of the frigate, some more fortunate vessel would
carry off the prize. Three hearty cheers showed him that
he might depend on his crew. " I shall lead you myself,"
he added. "Here are the orders for the six boats to
be employed, with the names of the officers and men to
be engaged on the service."

Every arrangement had been judiciously made. The
crew were to be dressed in blue ; the password was Bri-
tannia, the answer Ireland. The boarders were to take
the first spell at the oars; then, as they neared the
Hermione, they were to be relieved by the regular crews.
The expedition was to proceed in two divisions, the one to
board on the starboard, the other on the larboard bow,
gangway, and quarter. Sharp axes were provided for
those who were to cut the bower cable, while others were
told off to cut the stern cable, and certain men were to go
aloft to loose the sails. In the event of their reaching the
ship undiscovered, the boarders only were to board, while
the boats' crews were to take the ship in tow directly the
cables were cut; but should they bo discovered, the crews

298

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY".

of each boat were to board and all aid in the enterprise.
The rendezvous was to be on the Hermione's quarter-deck.
At half-past seven the boats were hoisted out, the crews
mustered, and away they pulled from the Surprise. As it
happened, within a mile of the Hermione the expedition
was discovered by two gunboats, and the alarm being
given, firing commenced. Captain Hamilton on this
pushed for the frigate, believing that all his boats would
do the same, but some, misunderstanding his orders,

CUTTING OUT THE "HERMIONE."

engaged the gunboats. On approaching, lights were seen
at every port, with the ship's company at quarters. Cap-
tain Hamilton pushed for the bows, and climbing up, his
foot slipped and his pistol went off; but he soon succeeded
in gaining a footing on the forecastle, and those who had
been ordered to loose the sails immediately got the foresail
ready for bending and hauling out to the yard-arms, thus
forming a screen to themselves, for not a Spaniard was

THE " HERMIONE " CUT OUT BY CAPTAIN HAMILTON. 290

there to interfere with them. On looking down from the
forecastle, they saw the crew of the Hermione at quarters
on the main-deck, firing away into the darkness, utterly
unconscious that the enemy were on board. Captain
Hamilton, with the gunner and fourteen men, now made
his way to the quarter-deck — part of them, however, under
the gunner, being driven back by the Spaniards, who gained
possession of the forecastle. Another party of English
also neglecting to rendezvous on the quarter-deck, the
captain was left for some minutes to defend himself against
the attack of four Spaniards, one of whom stunned him,
when he fell. Happily, some of his men came to the rescue,
and a party of marines climbing over the larboard gang-
way, now gave a favourable turn to affairs. The rest of
the boats coming up, the marines formecj, fired a volley,
and ran down with fixed bayonets on the main-deck.
About sixty Spaniards retreated to the cabin, and sur-
rendered. For some time, however, fighting continued on
the main-deck and under the forecastle. The cables were
cut, the sails were loosed, while the gunner and two men,
though severely wounded, standing at the helm, the boats
took the frigate in tow, and she stood out of Puerto Cabello.
The batteries immediately opened, and a Portuguese
reported that he heard the Spanish prisoners threatening
to blow up the frigate. A few muskets fired down the
hatchway restored order, and in less than an hour after
Captain Hamilton was on board, all opposition had ceased,
and the Hermione was his prize. By 2 P.M. the ship was
out of gunshot of the batteries, the towing-boats were
called alongside, and her crews came on board. In this
wonderful enterprise the British had only 12 wounded,
while the Spaniards, out of a crew of 365, lost 119 killed
and 97 wounded, most of them dangerously. The cutting
out of the Hermione may well be considered one of the
most desperate services ever performed, and no man was
ever more deserving of the knighthood he received than
Captain Hamilton, who had planned every detail, and
personally led the bold attack. He himself was among
the most severely wounded ; besides a blow on his head,
he received a sabre wound on the left thigh, another by a

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY?.

pike in his right thigh, and a contusion on the shin-bone
by grape-shot ; one of his fingers was badly cut, and he was
also much bruised.

For some time previously to this, detectives, if they may
be so called, were stationed at each of the ports to dis-
cover the members of the crew who had been on board
the Hermione at the time of the mutiny. No mercy was
shown to those who had taken part in it. A large number
were hung ; it used to be said, indeed, that more suffered
than1 actually then belonged to her, though they might
have done so at some former period.

Sir Edward Hamilton long lived to enjoy his honours.

The days when fabulous amounts of prize-money were
to be picked up had not yet passed by, although the rich
Spanish galleons which went to sea in the times of Drake
were seldom to be found. In October of this year, 1799,
fortune smiled on the officers and ships' companies of two
British frigates. The Naiad, of 38 guns, Captain Pierre-
point, while cruising in lat. 44° 1' north, and long. 12° 35'
west, came in sight of two frigates, to which, notwithstand-
ing the disparity of force, he gave chase. They proved to
be the Spanish 34-gun frigates Santa Brigida and Thetis,
from Vera Cruz, bound to Spain. He followed them all
night, when, early in the morning of the 16th, another
ship was seen in the south-west, which hoisting her num-
ber showed herself to be the 38-gun frigate Ethalion,
Captain James Young ; and soon afterwards two other
32-gun frigates, the Alcm&ne, Captain Digby, and the
Triton, Captain J. Gore appeared. The Spaniards, hoping
to escape, steered different courses, but each were pursued
by two British frigates, which, before long coming up
with them, compelled them to haul down their colours.
Fortunately, a breeze coming off the land, the captors with
their prizes were enabled to stand off the coast, just in
time to save themselves from being attacked by four large
ships, which came out of Vigo. While the English frigates
were preparing to receive the enemy, the four ships put
back into port. The prizes were found to have on board
a cargo of specie, besides other merchandise, to an amount
which gave each captain upwards of £40,000, each lieu-

RICH PRIZES CAPTURED. 301

tenant £5000, each warrant officer upwards of £2000, each
midshipman nearly £800, each seaman and marine £182.
Even the seamen and marines might have been well con-
tented with the gold pieces they had to chink in their
pockets ; though in too many instances they were probably
all dissipated before they had been many days on shore.
Yet complaints were general of the uneven way in which
prize-money was distributed. It was a common saying
among sailors, that when the pay-clerk went on board
ships to pay prize-money, he clambered with his money-
bags into the main-top and showered down the .money at
random ; all which remained upon the splinter-netting (a
coarse rope netting spread as a kind of awning) was for the
men, and all that went through for the officers. The cap-
tain of a ship not under the admiral's flag received three-
eighths of the net proceeds. In this instance the three-
eighths were divided among the four captains who assisted
in the capture of the two Spanish frigates. On the trea-
sure being landed, it was escorted in sixty-three artillery
waggons, by horse and foot soldiers, and armed seamen and
marines, attended by bands of music, and a vast multitude,
to the dungeons of the citadel of Plymouth, whence it was
afterwards removed, much in the same style, and deposited
in the Bank of England.

Still more fortunate, a few years later, was Lord Cochrane,
when, in command of the Pallas, he captured three rich
prizes in succession, of which the value could not have
been far short of £300,000. As, however, he only took one
fourth, his share amounted to about £75,000. As it was,
however, he nearly lost not only a large portion of his
booty, but his liberty, as, while returning home after he
had taken the last prize, three of the enemy's line-of-battle
ships were seen. The wind freshening to half a gale, the
Pallas was standing on, carrying all the sail she could,
when it was found that the enemy were gaining on her.
In this desperate emergency Lord Cochrane ordered every
stitch of sail to be suddenly taken in, and the three ships
of the enemy, one being on the weather, another on the lee-
beam, and the third nearly on the weather quarter, unable
to get their canvas off and haul to the wind, shot miles

902 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

away to leeward. The Pallas on this wore round and
made sail on the opposite tack. The enemy, however,
were soon again in chase, but night coming on, a lantern in
a cask was put overboard, and the Pallas, altering her
course, got clear of her pursuers, and reached Plymouth in
safety. As he sailed up the harbour Lord Cochrane had
a gold candlestick, five feet in height, fixed to the mast-
head, and, as may be supposed, he never after this had any
difficulty in manning his ship, when gold candlesticks were
to be picked up, in addition to " pewter " and " cobs," the
nickname given by seamen to silver and dollars. They
have always been found ready to volunteer on board
dashing frigates sent to stations where such prizes were
supposed to abound.

The last important action was that known as the Battle
of the Baltic. Napoleon had induced the Northern powers
of Denmark, Sweden, and Russia to form a league, de-
nominated an armed neutrality, for the French being
unable to keep the sea, he hoped under their flags to
obtain provisions and ammunition for his armies. To
counteract this formidable confederacy, the English sent a
fleet of 18 sail of the line, with a few frigates, and a
number of bomb-vessels and gunboats, in the first place
to attack the Danish fleet, and then to take in hand the
other two confederates. After many delays, and attempts to
induce the Danes to come to terms, on the 2nd of April,
1801, a portion of the fleet, which had been intrusted by Sir
Hyde Parker to Lord Nelson, appeared before Copenhagen,
and commenced an attack on the floating batteries and forts
prepared by the Danes for the defence of their city. There
is not space to give the details of the battle. The Danes
fought heroically, their floating batteries being remanned
over and over again from the shore. Afterthree hours' can-
nonading, from which both parties suffered severely, Sir
Hyde Parker, understanding that two of the British line-of-
battle ships were in distress, threw out a signal for discon-
tinuing the action. On its being reported to Nelson, he
shrugged his shoulders, repeating the words, " Leave off

action ? Now, me if I do. You know, Foley, I have

only one eye — I have a right to be blind sometimes;" then

BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN. 903

putting the glass to his blind eye, in that mood of mind
which sports with bitterness, he exclaimed, " I really do not
see the signal — keep mine for closer battle flying ! That's
the way I answer such signals. Nail mine to the mast."

At 1.30 P.M. the Danish fire slackened, and at 2 P.M.
ceased along nearly the whole of the line. Among the
British officers who fell was the gallant Captain Kiou, who
was cut in two while carrying his frigate, the Amazon,
into action. After the flags of all the chief batteries had
been struck, some of the lighter vessels that had got
adrift fired on the boats which approached to take possession
of them. Nelson prepared a letter to send to the Crown
Prince of Denmark, threatening to destroy the prizes
unless this proceeding was put a stop to. He concluded
his letter, " The brave Danes are the brothers and should
never be the enemies of England." A wafer was then
given him, but he ordered a candle to be brought from the
cock -pit, and sealed the letter with wax, affixing a larger
seal than is ordinarily used, remarking as he did so, " This
is no time to appear hurried and informal."

The remainder of the batteries having at length ceased
firing, a flag of truce arrived from the shore, when tho
action, which had continued for five hours, was brought to
a close, the total loss of killed being 255, and of wounded
688. The Danish loss amounted to between 1600 and
1800. The result of the victory was the secession of
Denmark from the league, and the Emperor of Russia
dying soon afterwards, the armed neutrality was dis-
solved.

Napoleon now began to hope more ardently than ever
that he should ere long land his victorious legions on
British ground. To carry them over, he had collected a
large flotilla, chiefly at Boulogne. By Lord Nelson's
orders, a desperate attempt was made by the boats of the
squadron to destroy them. Some were gun-brigs of
between 200 and 250 tons; others were flats, vessels
capable of carrying a crew of 30 men and 150 soldiers,
with either a mortar or a long 24-pounder, as well as
swivels and small arms. Though some few were captured,
all attempts at their destruction failed. The British

304« POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

cruisers, however, kept too good a watch to allow them to
put to sea.

Numerous cutting-out expeditions took place during the
war, in which both officers and men displayed the greatest
possible amount of courage and determination. One of
the most daring and successful on record was the capture
of the French 20-gun ship-corvette Chevrette, while lying
under some batteries in Camaret Bay, by the boats of the
Doris, Beaulieu, and Uranie, forming part of the Channel
Fleet under Admiral Cornwallis, stationed off Brest Har-
bour. At the first attempt the boats were discovered, and
the Clievrette ran a mile and a-half farther up the bay, and
took on board a party of soldiers. Notwithstanding this,
the next night, the 21st, the boats of the three frigates,
joined by the barge and pinnace of the Robust, 74,
amounting in all to 15, and containing about 280 officers
and men, under the command of Lieutenant Losack, the
second in command being, Lieutenant Keith Maxwell of
the Beaulieu, left their ships at 9.30 P.M. As they were
pulling into the bay, Lieutenant Losack, with six boats,
went in chase of a boat supposed to be sent as a look-out
from the Chevrette, and as he did not return, Lieutenant
Maxwell proceeded on without him. About 1 A.M. the
flotilla coming in sight of the Chevrette, she opened a
heavy fire on them of grape and musketry, and at the
same time they were assailed by a fire of musketry from
the shore. Undaunted by this, the British boarded the
ship, some on the starboard bow and quarter, and others
on the larboard bow, bravely opposed by the Frenchmen,
who were armed with muskets and pistols, sabres, toma-
hawks, and pikes. Some, indeed, attempted to enter the
boats, but were driven back by the British, who, having
lost their pistols and muskets, made their way cutlass in
hand. Some who had been directed to loose the sails,
fought their way on to the corvette's yards. Here they
found the foot-ropes strapped up, but, notwithstanding
every obstacle, the sails were let fall in less than three
minutes after the boarders had gained the deck. The
•cable having, in the meantime, been cut outside, a
light breeze blowing from the land, and the quarter-

THE " CIIEVRETTE " CUT OUT. 305

master of the Beaulieu, Henry Wallis, fighting his way to
the helm, and though bleeding from his wounds, taking
charge of the wheel, the ship drifted out of the bay. On
seeing the canvas loose, some of the Frenchmen leaped
overboard, and others sprang down the hatchways, thus
allowing the British to gain possession of the quarter-deck
and forecastle, now nearly covered with the bodies of the
slain. For some time, however, the Frenchmen who had
fled below kept up a sharp fire of musketry, but tlje
English, firing down in return, compelled them to yield. •
On her way out the prize was exposed to a heavy fire of
round and grape from the batteries, but, the wind increas-
ing, she got out of grape-shot. Not till then did Lieutenant
Losack and his companions get on board. Two officers
were killed, one of whom was Lieutenant Sinclair of the
marines, while defending Mr. Crofton, a midshipman, who
had been severely wounded while boarding. The other,
Robert Warren, a midshipman. Another, Lieutenant
Waller Burke, was mortally wounded. Altogether, 11
were killed and 57 wounded, and 1 marine drowned in the
Beaulieu's barge, which was sunk by a shot from the
corvette. The gallantry of the boatswain of the Beaulieu,
Mr. John Brown, was also conspicuous. After attempting
to force his way in to the Chevrette's fore-quarter-gallery,
he climbed up over the tafirail, when standing up for some
time exposed to the enemy's fire, waving his cutlass, he
shouted out, " Make a lane there ;" then, gallantly dashing
among the Frenchmen, he fought his way to the fore-
castle. Here he continued driving back the French, who
attempted to regain the post, all the time carrying out the
orders he received from the quarter-deck, while he assisted
in casting the ship and making sail as coolly as if he had
been carrying on duty under ordinary circumstances.

During the war, which ended at the peace of Amiens, on
the 27th of March, 1802, England had captured 80 sail of
the line, and numberless other ships, besides various
islands in the West Indies and other parts of the world,
from the French, Spaniards, and Dutch. Though most of
the latter were given up, the navy of England had gained
a renown which can never be obliterated.

CHAPTER XVI.

(FROM A.D. 1803 TO END OF WAR A.D. 1814.)

| HE " piping times of peace " were not destined
to last long. Napoleon, indeed, bad never
ceased making preparations for war from the
time the treaty of Amiens was signed. On
the IGth of May the British Government, dis-
covering his aims, issued letters of marque and ordered
general reprisals ; and at the same time Holland, being in
reality a province of France, all ships belonging to the
Batavian Republic in English ports were detained. Ad-
miral Cornwallis, in command of the Channel Fleet, of 10
sail of the line and frigates, which was lying in Cawsand
Bay, had his flag flying on board the Dreadnought, 98.
With these he proceeded the next day to cruise off Ushant,
and watch the motions of the French ships in Brest Har-
bour ; other small squadrons being sent, as soon as they
were ready, off the other French ports, containing either
ships of the line or gunboats, of which Napoleon was
collecting vast numbers for the invasion of England. In
a short time that war, which was to last ten years, com-
menced in earnest. The French gunboats were, however,
kept pretty close prisoners by the English cruisers, and
whenever any of them ventured out from under the pro-
tection of their batteries, they were attacked, captured,
driven on shore, or compelled to seek shelter in the
nearest port under their lee ; while many of them were
gallantly cut out and carried off in triumph, even when
306

CfiASSE-MAB^ES CAPTURED. 30?

moored in positions where they could receive assistance
from the forts on shore.

Out of the numberless gallant deeds performed by the
crews of boats and small vessels engaged in this service,
one must be instanced for its singularity, and the bravery
displayed by the commanding officer and his followers. A
hired cutter, the Sheerness, carrying 8 4-pounders and
30 men and boys, under the command of Lieutenant Henry
Rowed, while watching Brest Harbour, observed two chasse-
marees close in shore. Having sent a boat with seven
men and the mate to cut off one of them, the commander
proceeded in the cutter in chase of the other, which was
about five miles off, under the protection of a battery. A
calm coming on, he, with the boatswain, John Marks, and
three other men, jumped into a small boat and pulled away
for the chase. The latter, after some time, ran on shore
under the battery, where thirty soldiers were observed
drawn up on the beach. Notwithstanding the heavy fire
they at once opened, Lieutenant Rowed dashed alongside.
The Frenchmen having deserted their vessel, he began
making efforts to get her off; in this, as the tide was
rising, he at length succeeded, and going ahead in the
boat, towed her away from the shore. He had pulled
about a third of a mile, when suddenly a French boat,
with an officer and nine men armed with muskets, were
seen alongside, having pulled up in the wake of the vessel.
Before the French could have time to attack them, John
Marks sprang on board the chasse-mare'e, and seizing a
boat-stretcher, stood prepared to prevent any of the enemy
from getting up the side. The astonishment of the
Frenchmen gave time to the lieutenant and his three men
to climb on board and to prepare their firearms and cutlasses.
The French, who attempted to get up the side, were
driven back, when they sheered off, but discharged their
muskets at the English as they pulled away, while the
battery also opened fire. Wonderful as it may seem,
though forty-nine musket-balls were found sticking in the
prize, not a man was hurt ; and both chasse-mare'es were
carried off.

For some time the principal fighting was between the

308 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

English cruisers in the channel and the invasion flotilla,
as Napoleon's gunboats were called; and as their stings
might annoy, though they could not inflict serious injury,
attempts were made to destroy them by fire-vessels or
catamarans — which was the name given to a species of
nautical infernal machine — though without much success.
The catamaran consisted of a coffer of about 21 feet long
and 3| broad, somewhat in shape like a log of mahogany,
wedge-shaped at each end. It was covered with thick
planking, and lined with lead, thoroughly caulked and
tarred, while over all was a coat of canvas, payed over
with hot pitch. To give an idea of its size, the vessel
weighed about two tons. Inside was a piece of clock-work,
the mainspring of which, on withdrawing a peg placed on
the outside, would, after going six or ten minutes, draw
the trigger of a lock, and explode the vessel. Every other
part was filled with about 40 barrels of gunpowder and
other inflammable matter. As much ballast was placed in
it as would keep the upper surface of the deck even with
the water's edge. It had no mast, and had to be towed
towards the scene of its operations. The tow-rope was at
one end, and to the other was fixed a rope with a grappling-
iron at its extremity, kept afloat by pieces of cork. This
grappling-iron, it was intended, should hook itself to the
cable of the vessel it was to destroy, and thus swing the
catamaran alongside. It was, indeed, on a larger scale,
though with less destructive power, something like Har-
vey's torpedo of the present day.

Lord Keith, who was with a squadron off Boulogne, first
made use of four of the machines, in the hopes of destroy-
ing some of a flotilla of 150 vessels moored in a double
line outside the pier. Three exploded one after another,
doing very little harm ; but a heavily armed launch, which
had chased one of the boats towing a catamaran, ran foul
of it, when the launch and every one on board was blown
into the air.

Numerous other engagements took place, and frequently
the portions of the flotilla moving from the different ports
towards Boulogne were severely handled by the British
cruisers. Occasionally, small English vessels, venturing too

NAPOLEON'S FLOTILLA. 309

close in shore for the purpose of attacking them, were
captured by the French.

At length Napoleon managed to collect a vast number
of prames and gun-vessels, with other craft, the whole
flotilla amounting to 2293, of which the larger were armed.
These were intended to carry 163,645 men, of whom 16,783
were sailors, besides 9059 horses. This flotilla was organ-
ised in six grand divisions. One, denominated the left
wing, was stationed at Etaples, to convey the troops under
Marshal Ney from the camp of Mottrieux. Two other
divisions were in the port of Boulogne, to convey the
troops from the two camps on either side of it, under
Soult. A fourth was at the port of Vimereux to carry the
corps of Marshal Lannes. The Gallo-Batavian flotilla,
assembled off Ambleteuse, formed the fifth grand division,
destined to transport the troops under Marshal Davoust ;
while the sixth, at Calais, was to carry the Italian in-
fantry, and various divisions of mounted and dismounted
dragoons.

On the 3rd of August, 1805, Napoleon came to Boulogne
to inspect the flotilla, and so completely organised was it
by this time, that although^the extremities of the camps
were more than two miles from the point of embarkation,
an hour and a-half only was occupied in getting men and
horses on board. All he wanted was the arrival of his
fleet under Villeneuve, to protect his mighty flotilla during
its passage across the channel, and then, as his generals at
all events believed, the conquest of England was certain.

Meantime Nelson, who at the breaking out of the war
had been appointed to the command of the fleet in the
Mediterranean, was watching Villeneuve, resolved to pre-
vent him from appearing on the spot where his fleet was
so anxiously looked for by Napoleon. On the 18th of
May, 1803, he had hoisted his flag on board his old ship,
the Victory, and on the 20th had sailed from Spithead,
first bound to Brest, and from thence to the Mediterranean.
Here he remained for nearly two years, without once set-
ting foot on shore, watching and waiting for the Toulon
fleet, endeavouring to induce them to come out and give
him battle. At length, on the 18th of January, 1805, the

310 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

French fleet did come out, but a heavy gale blowing.
Nelson was then at anchor off the coast of Sardinia. Sup-
posing that they had gone to Egypt, he sailed in chase,
but found that they had put back into Toulon. Hence
again Villeneuve sailed, and escaping through the straits,
was joined by the Spanish fleet at Cadiz, which had 4500
troops on board. The combined fleet of the enemy now
numbered 20 sail of the line and 10 frigates, while Nelson
had but 10 sail of the line and 3 frigates. With these,
however, he chased Villeneuve to the West Indies, where,
after threatening several of the islands, he fled back to
Europe, with Nelson after him. When about twenty
leagues west of Finisterre, on the 22nd of July, the French
admiral was attacked by Sir Robert Calder, with 15 line-
of -battle ships, but escaped into Cadiz, with the loss of two
of the Spanish ships. Nelson, meantime, had sought the
enemy on the north-west coast of Ireland, and then came
back into the channel, where his ships reinforced the fleet
under Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant, and he himself,
worn out with fatigue and anxiety, went on shore for a
short rest.

It was now that Napoleon urged Villeneuve to come
into the channel, ending with the words, " England desires
us, we are all ready, all is embarked, appear, and within
four-and-twenty hours all is finished." No sooner did
Nelson hear that the French and Spanish fleet had entered
Cadiz than, again offering his services, he arrived at
Portsmouth on the 14th of September, and the next
morning, putting off in his barge to the Victory, he bade
his last farewell to England. On the 29th of September,
his birthday, he was off Cadiz, and joining Collingwood,
took command of the British fleet, then amounting to 27
sail of the line. Villeneuve had been waiting till the
Spaniards were ready, and till a favourable wind would
allow him to sail. On the 9th of October Nelson sent
Colliugwood his plan of attack, his intention being to
advance towards the enemy in two lines, led by eight of
his fastest three-deckers, and thus to break through the
enemy's line. Collingwood, having the command of one
line, was to break through the enemy about the twelfth

NELSON IN SEARCH OF THE ENEMY.

311

ship from the rear, Nelson intending to lead through
the centre, while the advanced squadron was to cut off
three or four ships ahead of the centre. He would make
few signals : no captain could do wrong who placed his
ship close alongside that of an enemy. Not till the 19th
did the admiral learn that Villeneuve had put to sea,
when he at once concluded that he intended to enter the
Mediterranean. Two days afterwards, the ever-memorable
21st of October, 1805, at daylight, when the English fleet

NELSON LEAVING 8OUTIISEA.

was about seven leagues from Cape Trafalgar, Nelson
discovered the enemy six or seven miles to the east-
ward, which had so manosuvred as to bring the shoals
of Trafalgar and San Pedro under the lee of the
British fleet, while they kept the port of Cadiz open
for themselves.

Nelson now hoisted the signal to bear down on them
in two lines. Nelson led one in the Victory, Collingwood

312 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

the other in the Royal Sovereign. On going into action
he asked Captain Blackwood, who had come on board
to receive orders, what he should consider a victory.
" The capture of 14 sail of the line," was the answer. " I
shall not be satisfied with less than 20," said Nelson.

Shortly afterwards up went the signal, " England
expects every man to do his duty."

Notwithstanding the attempts made to induce Lord
Nelson to allow the Temtfraire to lead his line into action,
the Victory carrying all sail, kept her station. Ahead of
her was Villeneuve's flag-ship, the Bucentaur, with the
Santissima Trinidad as his second before her; white
ahead of the Royal Sovereign, the leader of the lee column,
was the Santa Anna, the flag-ship of the Spanish vice-
admiral. The sea was smooth, the wind very light ; the
.sun shone brightly on the fresh-painted sides of the long
line of French and Spanish ships, when the Fougueux,
astern of the Santa Anna, opened her fire on the Royal
Sovereign, which, at about ten minutes past noon, delivered
her larboard broadside, with guns double-shotted, at the
Santa Anna, and with such precision as to disable 14 of
her guns, and to kill or wound 400 of her crew; while
with her starboard broadside she raked the Fougueux.
Just then Collingwood exclaimed to his captain, " Rother-
ham, what would Nelson give to be here;" and at the same
moment Nelson was observing, " See how that noble fellow
Collingwood carries his ship into action."

The wind now falling to almost a calm, the Victory and
the ships in her wake advanced so slowly that seven or
eight of the rearmost ships of the French van having
opened fire upon the Victory before she had fired a single
gun, 50 of her men were killed or wounded, and her main-
topmast with her studdensail-boom shot away, and every
sail, especially on the foremast, had become like a sieve.
At about four minutes after twelve she opened with both
her broadsides. Captain Hardy now informed Nelson that
it was impossible to break the enemy's line without running
on board one of their ships. " Take your choice — go on
board which you please," was the answer.

The Victory, as she approached the Bucentaur, fired a

TRAFALGAR. 313

r>8-poundcr carronadc containing a round shot and a keg
•with 500 musket-balls, from the larboard side of her fore-
castle, right into the cabin-windows of that ship ; and as
she forged slowly ahead, the whole of her 50 broadside
guns, all doubly and some trebly shotted, so as completely
to rake her, killing or wounding as many men as the
Bucentaur had lost, and dismounting 20 of her guns.
Receiving the fire of an 80-gun ship, the Neptune, the
Victory's helm being put hard a-port, she ran on board
the Redoutable, into which she poured a heavy fire,
while with her aftermost starboard guns she engaged the
Santissima Trinidad. Besides the heavy fire of great guns
and musketry she was enduring from other ships, she
received the shot of the Redoutable's main-deck guns, and
also constant discharges of musketry from the three tops
of that ship. It was from the mizen-top of the Redout-
able, at about 1.25 P.M., that, as Nelson apd Captain Hardy
were walking the deck together, the admiral was shot by a
musket-ball, which entered his left shoulder, and descend-
ing lodged in his spine. Hardy, who had just turned, saw
him in the act of falling, with his left hand just touching
the deck. He was removed by the sergeant of marines and
two seamen to the cock-pit.

In the meantime the action raged furiously. Soon
after the first four ships of the lee division had cut through
between the centre and rear of the enemy's line. The
remainder, as they came up, forced their way into the
dense mass and engaged such ships as they could best
attack. The weather division was doing the same, rather
ahead of the centre, and at about 1.30 P.M. the battle was at
its height. At about 3 P.M. the firing began to slacken, and
two hours afterwards had wholly ceased, by which time 9
French sail of the line, including one burnt, and 9 Spanish
were captured. Nine French and 6 Spaniards escaped, of
which 4 French ships made sail to the southward, and 11,
5 of which were French and 6 Spanish, reached Cadiz,
most of them much knocked about ; while all the frigates
and smaller craft also escaped.

Within twenty minutes after the fatal shot had been
fired from her, the Redoutable struck her colours, and

314 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

about three hours after Nelson had received his wound, he
breathed his last.

In the whole action the British lost 449 killed and 1241
wounded, while several of the ships lost two of their masts,
and five were totally dismasted. Lord Nelson intended to
anchor the fleet and prizes, but this Lord Collingwood did
not think fit to do, and a gale coming on from the south-
west, some of the prizes went down, others were driven
ashore, one escaped into Cadiz, some were destroyed, and
only four by the greatest exertions were saved. To the
credit of the Spaniards it must be recorded that the
English prize crews which landed from the wrecks were
treated with the greatest kindness.

Although there were few trophies, the result of the
victory was completely to disconcert Napoleon's plans, and
to prevent him from invading England. Four ships which
escaped after the action were captured by Sir Richard
Strachan on the 4th of November, and not while the war
continued did the French and Spanish navies ever recover
the tremendous blow they had received ofF Cape Trafalgar.
Thus, of the once formidable French and Spanish fleet of
35 sail of the line, 2 were taken by Sir Robert Calder, 4
of those captured at Trafalgar were carried into Gibraltar,
as were the 4 taken by Sir Richard Strachan, 15 were
sunk or were burnt or wrecked ; 3 only fit for sea escaped
into Cadiz ; while 7, so severely battered as to be mere
wrecks, got into the same port, making up the whole
number mentioned. In vain for some time did Napoleon
attempt to send another fleet to sea. His ships were
either blockaded by the British squadrons, or, when they
did manage to escape, were attacked and beaten by our
fleets. At the same time small squadrons or single
cruisers running out of port committed much havoc on
English commerce ; not, however, with impunity. Nume-
rous actions between light squadrons and single ships
took place. The enemy, indeed, were never safe, even in
port ; and expeditions to cut out vessels in the harbours or
under the protection of forts were much in vogue.

The navy of England was, at the commencement of
1806, larger than it had ever before been, consisting of

DUCKWORTH CAPTURES A FRENCH SQUADRON. 315

551 cruisers in commission, of which 104 were line-of-
battle ships; in addition to which 26 were building or
being built, and 16 in ordinary, a large proportion of the
jest being frigates carrying from 56 to 28 guns.

A new method had been introduced to strengthen ships
by diagonal braces or by doubling or sheathing them with
plank, and sometimes when they were in bad condition
both bracing and doubling them. By this means 22 sail
of the line, several frigates, and other smaller vessels had
been made fit for active service.

In this year, also, was launched the first British ship of
war constructed of teak. Two first-rate ships also were
ordered, the Nelson and the Caledonia, of a tonnage and
force double that of many of the old ships of the line. To
man this large fleet Parliament made a vote of 120,000
seamen and marines.

The four ships captured by Sir Richard Strachan were
carried into Plymouth, and were added to the British
Navy, the Formidable having the name of Brave given to
her, the Duguay-Trouin that of the Implacable, while
the Scipion and Mont Blanc were allowed to retain their
former names. The Implacable and Scipion were, how-
ever, the only ships considered as fit for service.

Notwithstanding the heavy loss France had sustained,
Bonaparte managed to send to sea a fleet of 11 sail of the
line, and a number of frigates, in two squadrons. One of
these sailed for the West Indies early in 1806, while the
other steered for the Cape of Good Hope. Admiral Duck-
worth, who, with 7 sail of the line, had been blockading
Cadiz, came up with the former of these squadrons, consisting
of 5 ships, 2 frigates, and a corvette, and after a severe action
took or destroyed the whole of the five line-of-battle ships.

Among the gallant actions performed at this time was
one which shows that seamen fight as well on shore as
afloat. The British 38-gun frigate Loire, Captain Mait-
land, cruising off the coast of Spain, having chased a
privateer into the Bay of Camarinas, situated to the east-
ward of Cape Finisterre, sent in three of her boats, under
the command of Lieutenant James Lucas Yeo, to bring her
out. Instead of one, they found two privateers, moored

316 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

under a battery of 10 guns; Both were captured, in spite
of the fire of the battery ; but in order to secure the larger
of the two, Lieutenant Yeo was compelled to abandon the
smallest vessel. To recompense himself for her loss, he.
captured three merchant- vessels laden with wine on his
way out. From his prisoners Captain Maitland learned
that a French privateer of 26 guns was fitting out at
Muros, and being acquainted with the navigation of the
bay, he resolved on her capture or destruction. Accord-
ingly, on the 4th of June, he stood into the bay, with
springs on his cables, ready to attack the fort, and towing
his boats, with fifty officers and men under the command
of Lieutenant Yeo. On passing close to the shore, the
Loire was exposed to a fire from two long 18-pounders,
which considerably annoyed her. On this Captain Mait-
land ordered Lieutenant Yeo to land and spike the guns.
The gallant lieutenant departing on this service, the Loire
stood on, when, as she opened the bay, she discovered at
anchor within it a large corvette pierced for 26 guns, and
a brig of 10 guns ; but as the armament of both vessels
was on shore, they were unable to offer any resistance.
The Loire, however, was now exposed to a hot fire from a
fort of 12 long 18-pounders, from which, as she was less
than a quarter-of-a-mile off, nearly every shot struck her
hull. Finding that by standing on he should be exposed
to a still hotter fire, Captain Maitland ran as close in as he
could venture, and anchoring the frigate with a spring on
her cable, opened her broadside. So strong, however, was
the fort, that the frigate's shot committed little or no dam-
age, while numbers of her crew were falling, some severely
wounded. Lieutenant Yeo had in the meantime landed,
and storming the 2-gun battery, put its defenders to
flight. Having spiked the guns, Lieutenant Yeo dis-
covered the large fort close to the town of Muros, which was
severely annoying the frigate. Without hesitation, he
resolved to attack it, and his men were eager to follow him.
The garrison were so occupied in firing at the frigate, that
not only was the approach of the British unperceived, but
the outer gate had actually been left open. On the seamen
rushing forward, headed by Lieutenant Yeo, th.e sentinel,

CAPTURE OF MUROS. 817

who only just then perceived them, fired his musket and
retreated, followed closely by the storming party, which on
reaching the inner gate was met by the governor, and those
he had time to rally round him, sword in hand. With a
blow of his cutlass, which was broken in the effort, the
lieutenant laid him dead at his feet. A desperate struggle
ensued in the narrow passage between the officers of the
garrison and the British seamen, who, bearing down all
opposition, drove the enemy before them to the farther
end of the fort, many of whom in their terror sprang
through the embrasures down upon the rocks below, a
height of twenty-five feet. The garrison of the fort con-
sisted of upwards of 100 men, composed of the crew of tho
corvette, 22 Spanish soldiers, and several Spanish volun-
teers. Of these, the governor, the second captain of the
corvette, and a Spanish gentleman, with nine other men,
were killed, and thirty wounded, before the survivors,
finding all opposition useless, laid down their arms ; when
the British colours, greatly to the satisfaction of the frigate's
crew, were seen flying on the flagstaff. Directly the fort
was in the possession of the British, the seamen and
marines did their best to assist the wounded prisoners, and
were amply repaid by the gratitude which the unfortunate
men's friends expressed when they came to carry them
into the town. The guns being spiked and thrown over
the parapet, and part of the fort being blown up, the
British embarked, carrying off 40 barrels of powder, 2
small brass cannon, and 50 stand of arms. The corvette
and brig, as also the Spanish merchant-vessel, were taken
possession of, when Captain Maitland sent a flag of truce to
the town, promising that should the stores of the two priva-
teers be delivered up, he would not injure the town ; he
also refrained from capturing a number of small merchant-
vessels which lay in the bay, considering that it was cruel
to deprive the poor owners of the means of obtaining a
livelihood. His terms were gladly accepted, and the bishop
and one of the principal inhabitants of Muros came off to
express their gratitude for the kind way in which their
victors had treated them, and offering such refreshment as
the place could afford to the British captain and his officers.

318 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The corvette was named the Confiance, and on his return
home Lieutenant Yeo was appointed to her. Shortly
afterwards he was raised to post rank, the Confiance being
rated as a post-ship, with an armament of 22 carronades,
18-pounders, and a complement of 140 men and boys, in
order that he might still remain her captain.

Among the most remarkable of the gallant actions of
this period between single ships was that fought in
August, 1805, between the British 18-pounder 36-gun
frigate Phoenix, Captain Thomas Baker, and the French
frigate Didon, of 40 guns, Captain Milius. The Didon
measured 1091 tons, and had a crew of 330 men, the weight
of her metal amounting to 563 pounds ; while the Phcenix
measured but 884 tons, her crew numbering only 245
men, and the weight of her metal was 444 pounds. The
Didon, which had three days before sailed from Corunna
with despatches for the Rochefort squadron, and after
escaping an action from another English frigate, had been
visited by the skipper of an American merchant-vessel,
who informed Captain Milius that a ship whose top-
gallant-sails were just then rising out of the water to wind-
ward was an English 20-gun ship, on board of which he
had been the previous evening, and from what he had
heard he was sure that she would venture to engage the
Didon. Captain Milius, though ordered to avoid an
action, believing that victory was certain, backed his
mizen-topsail and kept his main-topsail shivering to allow
the British ship to come up with him. The stranger was
the Phcenix, aud which was not only a smaller frigate, but
Captain Baker had disguised her to resemble at a distance
a sloop of war. The mistake into which Captain Milius
had been led by his treacherous visitor was therefore not
discovered until the Phosnix was close to the Didon,
which ship, hoisting her colours, fired a gun to windward,
and at 8.45 A.M. opened her broadside. Captain Baker, in
order to prevent the Didon from escaping, had resolved to
engage to leeward, but, from the manoeuvres of the French
ship, unable to do this, he stood down right at her to
windward with all sail set. By this bold measure he
succeeded in bringing his broadside to bear on the Didon

CAPTURE OF THE " DlDON " BY TflE " P&CENIX." 319

at pistol-shot distance, when a hot fire of round-shot, grape
and musketry was exchanged between the combatants. The
Phoenix from the press of sails she carried, ranged ahead
of the Didon, which lay almost stationary, and before she
could haul up, was raked by the latter ; but as the crew
were ordered to lie down, they escaped without damage.
By the rapidity with which the crew of the Phoenix
repaired her damaged rigging, they avoided an attempt
made by the Didon to rake her with her starboard broad-
side. In a short time the Didon's larboard-bow ran
against the starboard-quarter of the Phoenix, both ships
lying nearly in a parallel direction, the former having only
one gun which could be brought to bear on her antagonist.
At that moment the Frenchmen in vast numbers attempted
to board the Phoenix, but were vigorously repulsed ; while
the marines of both ships exchanged a warm and de-
structive fire. At this juncture a young midshipman,
Edward Phillips, observed a man upon the Didon's bow-
sprit end taking deliberate aim at Captain Baker, close
to whom he was standing. Being armed with a musket,
he, thrusting the captain on one side, fired. At the same
moment the Frenchmen fell into the water, while the
bullet intended for the captain's head tore off alone the
rim of his hat. Several men who were sick below, leaving
their hammocks, employed themselves in bringing up
powder, while the acting purser, Mr. John Colman, who
might with propriety have remained to assist the surgeons
in the cock -pit, appeared on deck with a brace of pistols in his
belt and a broadsword in his hand, encouraging the crew
by every means in his power. Still, the great superiority
of the French made it doubtful which ship would gain the
victory ; when Captain Baker by great exertions brought
the aftermost main-deck gun to a port whicfy he had cut
by enlarging one of the stern windows. Several of his
men were killed by the French marines while the opera-
tion was going forward, but at length he succeeded in
running it through the port, and, at his first discharge,
sweeping the Didon from her larboard-bow to her star-
board-quarter, laid low twenty-four of her crew. The British
marines were, in the meantime, keeping up so spirited a

320 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

fire on the forecastle of the Didon that they prevented the
Frenchmen from discharging the carronade placed on it.
This work continued for half-an-hour, when the Didon
fore-reached on the Phoenix, which, as she did so, brought
her second aftermost gun to bear on her, and at its first
discharge cut away the gammoning of her bowsprit and
did other damage. Though the guns of the Phoenix were
lighter than those of the Didon, they were fired nearly
half as quick again. The Didon had by this time, as she
passed out of gunshot, lost her main-topmast, while her
foremast was in a tottering condition, and her hull severely
shattered. The rigging of the Phoenix had also been so
much cut about that she was almost unmanageable. Both
frigates, which had gone into action with nearly all their
sails set, now exhibited a melancholy appearance, their
canvas riddled or in tatters, and rope-ends drooping from
their masts and yards, Their crews were now employed
in repairing their damaged rigging, and so well trained
and diligent was that of the Phoenix that in a short time
they had knotted and spliced her rigging and rove fresh
braces. While so employed, about noon, they were encour-
aged by seeing the Didon's foremast fall over the side.
Soon afterwards a light air of wind springing up, the
Phoenix, trimming her sails, stood down towards the
Didon, and having got within gunshot, was about to open
her fire, when the French frigate, being utterly helpless,
hauled down her colours.

The Phoenix had lost her second lieutenant, 1 master's
mate, and 10 seamen killed, and 3 officers, 13 seamen,
and 12 marines wounded ; while the Didon had had
27 officers and men killed, and 44 badly wounded out
of her crew of 330 men, who were looked upon as
one of the most efficient in the French navy, while
Captain Minus, who was known for his gallantry and
seamanship, had fought his frigate with the greatest
bravery.

The crew of the Phoenix had still a difficult duty to
perform. Their prisoners greatly outnumbered them, and
not only had they to refit the two ships, but to keep a
Strict watch on their captives. The Didon's mainmast

NARROW ESCAPE OF THE " PHCENIX " AND HER PRIZE. 321

was so severely wounded that it had immediately to be cut
away, when the Phoenix, taking her in tow, steered for a
British port. On the evening of the 14th she fell in with
the Dragon, 74, which ship accompanying her, the next
day they came in sight of M. Villeneuve's fleet. On this
the Phoenix, with her prize in tow, made sail to the south-
ward, pursued by several French ships ; but after a time
they tacked and left her and her prize to proceed unmo-
lested. Having passed Lisbon, she was steering for
Gibraltar, when, during a thick fog, the ringing of bells and
firing of guns were heard. Meeting with the Euryalus
frigate, Captain Baker learned that the sounds proceeded
from the Franco-Spanish fleet. He accordingly again
altered his course to the westward. He had a still greater
danger to contend with. The French pilot belonging to
the Phoenix overheard some of the prisoners talking of a
plan for getting possession of the Phoenix. The intended
mutiny was speedily crushed. Shortly afterwards the
pilot brought aft Captain Milius' late coxswain, accusing
him of being the ringleader. The French captain was very
indignant, and demanded of the man whether he had any
complaint to offer. On his acknowledging that he had
none, Captain Milius besought Captain Baker to put the
fellow in irons, declaring him to be a disgrace to the name
of Frenchman. After this the prisoners remained quiet,
and the Phoenix with her prize, having the advantage of a
good wind, at length safely reached Plymouth Sound on
the 3rd of September. The Didon, which was a beautiful
and fast-sailing frigate, was purchased for the navy, but,
without ever having been sent to sea, was unaccountably
broken up in 1811.

Humane and brave as British officers have almost always
proved themselves, tyrannical captains, who in most
instances have been also deficient in courage and seaman-
like qualities, have occasionally been found in the service.
Among men of this class the Honourable Captain Lake,
commanding the sloop of war Recruit, must be ranked.
While at Plymouth he had pressed a young seaman, Robert
Jeffrey by name, belonging to Polberro in Cornwall, out of
a privateer.N Shortly afterwards the Recruit sailed for the

322 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

West Indies. While in those seas, the ship having run
short of water, Jeffrey was accused of stealing, on the 10th
December, a bottle of rum, and some spruce beer out of a
cask. He was accordingly put in the black-list. Two or
three days afterwards the Recruit came in sight of the
desert island of Sombrero, eighty miles to the south-west of
St. Christopher. Captain Lake on seeing it suddenly took
it into his head to maroon Jeffrey on the island. Accord-
ingly, that very evening, he was conveyed on shore in a
boat, commanded by the second lieutenant, who had with
him a midshipman and four seamen. Even the buccaneers,
when they thus treated a culprit, had the humanity to
leave him arms, and food, and clothing ; but Captain Lake
ordered the unfortunate youth to be left on this uninhabited
spot with no other clothing than that he wore, without a
particle of food. The lieutenant, observing that his bare
feet were cut by the sharp stones, obtained a pair of shoes
from one of the men, and gave him a knife and a couple
of handkerchiefs, contributed by himself and the midship-
man. The lieutenant advising him to keep a bright look-
out for passing vessels, then, according to his orders, leaving
the poor fellow, pulled back to his ship. Soon after the
arrival of the Recruit at the Leeward Islands, Sir Alexander
Cochrane, the commander-in-chief, hearing what had
occurred, sent her back to bring off the man, in case he
should have survived. The officers on landing searched
the island over, but could discover no traces of the marooned
seaman. Jeffrey, however, was not dead'. For eight days
he had subsisted on such limpets as he could find among
the rocks, and the rain water which he discovered in their
crevices. He was growing weaker and weaker, for though
he had seen several vessels pass, he was unable from weak-
ness to hail them ; till, on the morning of the ninth day,
an American schooner, the Adams, of Marblehead, Massa-
chussetts, hove in sight, and his signal being seen, the
master came on shore and saved him from the death which
probably would have soon overtaken him. He was landed
at Marblehead, where he remained till 1810, when the
English Government hearing of the occurrence, sent for him,
and gave him his discharge, taking the big E, off his name •

DANISH FLEET SURRENDERED TO THE ENGLISH. 323

thus enabling him to receive all arrears of pay. On the
whole circumstance being inquired into, Captain Lake,
who acknowledged that he had landed Jeffrey upon
Sombrero under the belief that it was inhabited, was
deservedly sentenced to be dismissed from the British Navy.
In 1807, it having become known that Napoleon in-
tended to take possession of the Danish fleet, to recom-
pense himself for the loss of his own, a British fleet of 17
sail of the line and 21 frigates, and smaller vessels, was
despatched to the Baltic, iinder the command of Admiral
Gambier. An army of 20,000 men was also sent at the
same time, commanded by Lord Cathcart, and they were
directed to demand the surrender of the Danish fleet, the
English Government undertaking merely to hold it as a
deposit, to be restored at a general peace. The fleet
reached its destination early in August. After various
skirmishes with the Danish gunboats and batteries, it
completely surrounded the island of Zealand, when the
troops were landed, and the Danish general, Peiman,
refusing the terms offered, on the 2nd of September the
English fleet and batteries opened fire on Copenhagen,
which was ultimately set on fire. The bombardment con-
tinued for three days, with a short interval, in the hopes
that the Danes would yield ; but it was not till a number
of the garrison and inhabitants had been killed, and a
large portion of the city burnt down, that General Peiman
sent out a flag of truce. Lord Cathcart's reply was, that
no capitulation could be listened to unless accompanied
by the surrender of the Danish fleet. This was at length
agreed to, and the British were put in possession of the
citadel and the ships of war, with their stores. In six
weeks the whole of the fleet fit for sea was carried off, the
remaining few ships being destroyed ; while a large
amount of naval stores was embarked, as was the army,
without a casualty. On going down the sound, the
Neptunus, one of the prizes, an 80-gun ship, got on
shore, and was destroyed, as were also most of the Danish
gunboats, in consequence of bad weather coming on. The
fleet, however, without further accident, at the close of
October, arrived safely at Yarmouth and the Downs.

324 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Whatever opinion may be formed of the legality or ex-
pediency of the enterprise, no one can deny that it was
carried out with ability and promptitude; and as the
Danes would undoubtedly have assisted Napoleon in his
designs against England, she was certainly justified in
thus summarily preventing Denmark from injuring her.

It was at this time that the Danish island of Heligoland
was captured by the Majestic, 74, and the Quebec frigate,
and has ever since remained in possession of the British
crown.

The next expedition on a large scale in which a British
fleet was engaged brought neither advantage to the country
nor honour to its leaders. The Turks having been tam-
pered with by the French, Sir John Duckworth, in com-
mand of a squadron, had been sent to Constantinople to
take possession of or destroy the Turkish fleet should the
sultan not give a sufficient guarantee of his friendly inten-
tions. According to his instructions, Sir John proceeded
with his squadron up the Dardanelles, his ships being
exposed to the fire of the forts on either hand. Altogether,
the loss of the squadron amounted to 6 killed and 51
wounded. The Turks, however, were not to escape with-
out punishment. Not far from the Castle of Abydos lay
the Turkish squadron, which had the audacity to fire on
the British ships as they passed. While four of the latter
came to an anchorage to prevent their escape, Sir Sidney
Smith, with three frigates, ran in and anchored within
musket-shot of them, when, opening his fire, he compelled
one of the Turkish sixty-fours and two frigates, and other
smaller vessels, to run on shore, the only ones which did
not do so being captured, a fort under which they had
sought protection being also destroyed. Unhappily, one
of the British ships, the Ajax, commanded by Captain
Blackwood, caught fire during the night, and so rapidly
did the flames extend, that no efforts availed to put them
out, and upwards of 250 souls, among whom were two
merchants and two women passengers, perished. It was
supposed that the fire was caused by the spontaneous
combustion of some coals stowed in the after-cockpit.

Sir John, on arriving before Constantinople, lost a con

PASSAGE OF THE DARDANELLES. 325

siderablc time in diplomatic negotiations, while the Turks
were doing their utmost to fortify their city and the island
of Prota, which commanded the anchorage. Instead of
attacking the city, Sir John sailed again down the Dar-
danelles, receiving on his way a hot fire from the Castle of
Abydos and other forts on either hand. The Turks fired
granite shot, one of which, weighing 800 pounds and
measuring 6 feet in circumference, passed through the side
of the Active, two feet above the water, and lodged on the
orlop-deck, close to the magazine-scuttle, without injuring
a man. So large was the aperture made by it, that Cap-
tain Mowbray, her commander, saw two of his crew thrust-
ing their heads out of it at the same moment. Another
shot of the same weight struck the main-mast of the
Windsor Castle, and cut it more than three-quarters
through. Other ships were struck by shot of equal dimen-
sions. Four men on board the Standard were killed by
one of these shot, which, at the same time striking a salt
or ammunition box on deck, caused an explosion by which
a lieutenant, 3 petty officers, and 37 men and 6 marines
were wounded, and 4 seamen in their alarm leapt over-
board— the total loss by this single shot amounting to 8
killed and drowned, and 47 wounded. The story is told
of a seaman who thrust his head out of one of the shot-
holes, and pertinaciously kept it there. When asked why
he did so, he replied that he considered it the safest place,
as he was sure no other shot would come in at that hole.

By great exertions the French had in the year 1809
fitted out 9 line-of-battle ships, in addition to the squadrons
already at sea, which, under the command of M. Allemand,
had arrived in Basque Roads.

Here they were for some time blockaded by the British
Channel Squadron under Lord Gambier, whose flagwasflying
on board the Caledonia, of 120 guns, Captain Sir H. Burrard
Neale. Lord Gambier had himself suggested the possibility
of destroying the French fleet by means of fire-ships, though
he considered, as his letter expresses it, " a horrible mode
of warfare, and the attempt very hazardous, if not despe-
rate." The Admiralty had, however, anticipated him, and
had already ordered the construction of several fire-ships,

326 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

which, on the arrival from the Mediterranean of Lord
Cochrane, commanding the 38-gun frigate Imperieuse,
were placed under his command. On his reaching the
fleet he was coldly received by the other captains, who
were jealous of the appointment of a junior officer to con-
duct so important a service. Lord Cochrane remark* that
two only, Rear-Admiral Stafford and Sir Harry Neale,
received him in a friendly manner. Lord Cochrane was
not a man to be disconcerted by such conduct, and felt
thoroughly convinced that the plan he proposed would
succeed. The French, aware of the danger of their posi-
tion, had done their utmost to fortify it. The defences on
He d'Aix were strengthened, and works were commenced
on the Boyart Shoal on the opposite side of the entrance
to the roads, while a boom half-a-mile in length, composed
of spars and cables, had been laid down and secured by
heavy anchors. This boom, forming an obtuse angle,
occupied a deep channel between He d'Aix and the Boyart
Shoal, and it was supposed would prove effectual against the
passage of fire-ships. The Frejaph fleet was drawn up in
two lines inside the boom, with three frigates in line ahead
of them. The ships thus placed, aided by the batteries on
shore, would have been sufficient to sink the British fleet
had it attempted to force a passage. Besides the fire-ships,
Lord Cochrane had constructed two explosion vessels. The
largest contained 1500 barrels of powder, formed into a
solid mass by wedges and wet sand rammed hard between
the casks. On the top of this mass of gunpowder were 400
live shells with short fusees, together with as many
hundreds of hand grenades and rockets.

The night of the llth of April was fixed on for the
enterprise. The fire-ships were ready, but one mortar-
vessel, the Etna, alone had arrived. The Imptfrieuse, from
whence operations were to be directed, anchored close to
the inner end of the Boyart Shoal. The Aigle, Unicorn,
and Pallas frigates, brought up in a line to the northward
of her, in order to receive the crews of the fire-ships and
support the boats of the fleet, while the Etna anchored off
the north-east point of He d'Aix, covered by the Emerald
frigate and four gun-brigs. Two others, with screened lights

LORD COCHRANE'S EXPLOIT WITH FIRE-SHIPS. 327

hoisted, were to act as pointers for the guidance of the fire-
ships. They were to pass between the two light vessels,
and then shape a course for the boom. A strong wind
from the 'north-west enabled the fire-ships to run about
two points free for the boom. At 8.30 P.M. Lord Coch-
rane, accompanied by Lieutenant Bissell, embarked on
board the largest of the explosion vessels, on the perilous
undertaking, the other fire-ships followed. He was accom-
panied by a boat's crew of four volunteers only, in addition
to the lieutenant. Having nearly reached the boom, he
ordered the lieutenant and his men to get into the boat
while he ignited the port-fires. It was supposed that the
fusees would burn fifteen minutes, by the end of which
time the boat might be well out of the range of the grc n-
ades ; but scarcely five minutes had elapsed ere a terrific
explosion occurred, throwing up a huge wave which nearly
swamped the boat, while grenades and rockets were darting
round them on all sides, shells and missiles of every de-
scription rising in the air. The escape of Lord Cochrane
and his companions was almost miraculous, for not one of
them was hit. The fire-ship, too, had performed her
destined work, if not as completely as had been desired,
sufficiently so to enable the Mediator fire-ship, Com-
mander Woolridge, to force her way. In his eagerness to
direct her against the enemy, he remained till the explosion
actually occurred, when he, with two lieutenants, a seaman,
and the gunner, who was killed, were blown out of the
ship. So well directed were the six other fire-ships that
two fell on board the Ocean, of 120 guns, and the Regulus,
a 74, the former being compelled to cut her cables, and she
soon afterwards, narrowly escaping the Pallas Shoal, ran on
shore, where she again had a narrow escape from another
fire-ship. So panic-stricken were the French crews that
every effort to escape was made. The scene was indeed
truly terror-inspiring, the darkness rendering the effect
of the burning ships, the flight of shells and rockets, and
the flashes of the guns awful in the extreme.

The danger in which the French ships were placed will
best be understood from an account written by one of the
officers of the Ocean, the French admiral's flag-ship.

328 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

After the Ocean, narrowly escaping being blown up, had
grounded, a burning fire-ship grappled her athwart her
stern. Every effort was made to prevent the fire from
catching the ship ; the engine playing, completely wetted
the poop, while spars were used to heave off the fire-ship,
and axes to cut the lashings of her grapnels fastened to the
end of her yards ; but the chevaux-de-frise on her sides
held her firm. The flames from the fire-ship covering the
whole of the poop, it seemed impossible that the Ocean
could escape. At this juncture two other line-of-battle
ships, the Tonnerre and Patriote, fell on board her. The
first broke her own bowsprit and destroyed the Ocean's
main-channels. As the fire-ship athwart the stern was
now about to drive forward along the starboard side, the
Tonnerre was got free. Unless this had happened the
fire-ship would have fallen into the angle formed by the
two ships, and would inevitably have burnt them. The
fire-vessel having now drifted under the bowsprit of the
Ocean, was there held for some time. In order to afford
the Tonnerre and Patriote an opportunity to get out of
her reach, an attempt had been made to drown the
magazine, but the flow of water was too slow for the pur-
pose. In the efforts to clear the fire-ships upwards of fifty
men fell into the sea and were drowned, the boats saving
others.

Shortly afterwards another fire-vessel approached on
the starboard-quarter, but the Ocean's guns cut away her
main-mast, and wearing, she passed close alongside. For
the remainder of the night vessels were seen burning on
all sides. Daylight revealed the French fleet in a deplor-
able condition ; the Ocean on the mud at a distance of
half-a-mile to the south-east of the anchorage in Aix Road ;
to the south-east of her, about fifteen hundred yards off, on
a rocky bed, lay the Varsovie and Aquilon, and close
to them on somewhat better ground the Regulus and
Jemappes. The Tonnerre, already bilged, and her main-
mast cut away, and most of her guns hove overboard,
lay at the entrance of the Charente, and at some distance
off the Calcutta, close to the wreck of the Jean Bart. The
Patriote and Tourville also lay not far from the channel of

GALLANTRY OF LORD COCtiRANE. 320

the Charente. Four frigates were also on shore in the
same direction. All the grounded ships were more or less
on the heel — those on the Pallas Shoal in a very desperate
condition. Thus, although the fire-vessels had not caused
the immediate destruction of any of the French fleet, they
had been the means of reducing nearly the whole of them
to a comparatively defenceless state. Lord Cochrane, in
the Imperieuse, being the nearest English ship, was the
first to perceive their condition, and immediately tele-
graphed, "The fleet can destroy the enemy — seven on
shore;" at 6.40, "Eleven on shore;" and at 9.30, "Enemy
preparing to heave off." At first it was hoped that Lord
Gambier would immediately stand in and complete the
destruction of the helpless enemy ; and there can be little
doubt, had such men as Sir Sidney Smith or Lord
Cochrane himself been in command, such would have been
accomplished ; but Lord Gambier, afraid of risking the loss
of the whole fleet by venturing among the shoals, called
his captains on board, held a council of war, and allowed
the favourable time to pass by. The tide rising enabled
several of the ships to get afloat, and run up the Charente
out of the way of danger. The Imperieuse, without wait-
ing for orders, after signalling for assistance, stood towards
three of the French ships, the Calcutta, Varsovie, and
Aquilon. After some time she was joined by some gun-
brigs and bomb-vessels, and later by the Indefatigable,
and other frigates. She had, in the meantime, compelled
the Calcutta to cease firing, and the Frenchmen to abandon
her. Lord Cochrane then sent a midshipman and boat's
crew to take possession, when, without orders, the mid-
shipman set her on fire, and in the evening she blew up
with a tremendous explosion. The Tonnerre was also set
on fire by her own officers and crew, and blew up. The
fire from the English ships compelled the Varsovie and
Aquilon to submit at 5.30 P.M. Five other French ships
lying on shore at the mouth of the Charente might also
have been destroyed had there been any reserve of fire-
vessels, but these were wanting, and though efforts were
made to prepare three more, by the time they were ready
the wind had shifted and they could not be used. The

330 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

French lost the Varsovie, of 84 guns, the Aquilon and
Tonnerre, of 74 guns, and the Calcutta, of 50 guns. The
Imperieuse during the action had three seamen killed,
and Mr. Gilbert, an assistant-surgeon, Mr. Marsden, purser,
seven seamen, and two marines wounded, while the Revenge
had three men killed and Lieutenant Garland and fourteen
men wounded, she also receiving considerable damage in
her hull from the batteries on He d'Aix. The French loss
was much more considerable ; the Varsovie especially,
having 100 killed and wounded, while the captain of the
Aquilon was killed in a boat of the Imperieuse, when
seated by the side of Lord Cochrane, by a shot from
the burning Tonnerre. The burning Varsovie and
Aquilon being supposed by the French to be fire-ships,
created a further panic among them. The captain and
crew of the Tourville, believing that the fire-vessel was
bearing down upon them, deserted their ship, and hastened
in their boats on shore. A gallant French quartermaster,
however, of the name of Bourgeois, managed to get on
board again before the boat shoved off, resolved to stand
by his ship to the last. To secure his safety should the
fire-ships grapple the Tourville, he at once began con-
structing a raft. He had just completed it when an
English boat approached, the crew of which were ignorant
that the ship was abandoned. Bourgeois hailed her twice,
but receiving no reply, fired a musket which he found at
the gangway. This was returned, but the intrepid fellow,
hastening to the captain's cabin, where he found twenty
loaded muskets, discharged them in quick succession,
when, greatly to his satisfaction, the boat pulled away.
After he had been on board an hour, he discovered three
of his shipmates insensible from drink on the lower-deck.
A short time after this three of the Tourville 's boats, with
a young midshipman, who now took the command, returned
on board the Ocean, and he and the brave quastermaster
prepared to defend their ship to the last. Fortunately
for them, the English, not aware of what had happened,
did not attack her, or she would undoubtedly have been
added to the list of the French ships destroyed on the
occasion. Lord Cocbrane still remained with the gun-

LORD COCHRANE SUPERSEDED. 331

brigs, aod the Pallas, Captain Seymour, her commander,
having gallantly decided on rendering him assistance. At
8 A.M. on the 13th of April he despatched the brigs and
mortar-vessel to attack the ships still aground. The Etna
unfortunately split her mortar, and the other vessels could
do the enemy but little harm. A strong wind and tide
prevented the Imperieuse and Pallas from taking a part in
the attack. At noon five other small vessels were sent in
by Lord Gambier, who wrote to Lord Cochrane giving him
leave to attack the Ocean, but observing that there was
little prospect of success, and desiriDg to see him as soon
as possible. Lord Cochrane replied, " We can destroy the
ships which are on shore, which I hope your lordship will
approve of." The Imperieuse, therefore, remained until the
next day, when Lord Gambier, finding that Lord Cochrane
would not quit his post as long as he had a shadow of dis-
cretionary authority, superseded him in the command of the
fire-ships by Captain Wolfe, observing, "I wish you to join me
as soon as possible, that you may convey Sir Harry Neale
to England, who will be charged with my despatches."
The Imperieuse, therefore, proceeded to Basque Roads,
where Lord Cochrane had a disagreeable interview with
the admiral, who insinuated that he desired to take all
the merit of the service to himself. On his arrival in
England Lord Cochrane, who had now a seat in Parliament,
gave notice that he should oppose the vote of thanks about
to be proposed to Lord Gambier. On hearing this Lord
Gambier, on his arrival, demanded a court-martial. The
evidence of Captain Pulteney Malcolm was much in favour
of Lord Cochrane, but the other witnesses supported Lord
Gambier, and sentence was pronounced, honourably acquit-
ting him of all blame. From that day Lord Cochrane's
prospect of success in the navy was destroyed. Though
attempts were made by Lord Mulgrave to bribe him over,
he refused to abandon what he considered his duty to his
constituents and the country. The vote of thanks to Lord
Gambier was carried by a majority of 161 to 39.

The following year, when Crocker, secretary to the Admir-
alty, brought forward the navy estimates, Lord Cochrane
moved an address for certain returns relating to pensions

332 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

on the civil list, contrasting them with pensions to naval
officers ; remarking in the course of his speech, " An admiral,
when superannuated, has £410 a-year, a captain £21.0,
while a clerk of the ticket-office retires on £700 a-year.
Four daughters of the gallant Captain Courtenay, who was
killed in action with the enemy when commanding the
Boston, have £12, 10s. each; the daughters of Admiral Sir
A. Mitchel and Admiral Hepworth have each £25 ; Admiral
Keppel's daughter, £24 ; the daughter of Captain Mann,
who was killed in action, £25 ; and four children of Admiral
Moriarty, £25 each. Thus thirteen daughters of admirals
and captains, several of whose fathers fell in the service of
their country, receive from the gratitude of the nation a
sum in the aggregate less than Dame Mary Sexton, the
widow of a commissioner."

Remarking on the pension list, he observed, "Captain
Johnstone receives £45, 12s. for the loss of an arm ; Lieu-
tenants Harding and Lawson, £91, 5s. each for a similar
loss ; Lieutenant Campbell, £40 for the loss of a leg ; and
Lieutenant Chambers, R.M., £80 for the loss of both legs —
while Sir Andrew Hammond retires on a pension of £1500
per annum."

Amongst the most renowned exploits of the navy is that
of the capture of Cura9oa. It having been reported to
Vice-Admiral Dacres, then commander-in-chief on the
Jamaica station, that the inhabitants of the island of
Cura9oa wished to ally themselves to Great Britain, he
despatched the Arethusa, 38-gun frigate, commanded by
Captain Charles Brisbane, accompanied by the Latona,
also of 38 guns, Captain Wood, and the Anson, 44 guns,
Captain Lydiard. These, when close to the island, were
joined by the Fisgard, of 38 guns, Captain Bolton. Captain
Brisbane, suspecting that the governor and the troops
garrisoning the strong forts would not be willing to yield
them up as the inhabitants might desire, without waiting
to enter into diplomatic negotiations, determined at once
to run into the harbour of St. Anne, the capital of the
island, and to invite the authorities to yield under the
muzzles of his guns. A favourable wind, Avhich sprung
up on the last day of the year 1806, gave him hopes of being

TAKING OF CURA^OA. 333

able to carry out his project. On New-Year's Eve it was
known that every true Dutchman would indulge in extra
potations, and that by getting in at daylight, before the
garrison had regained their senses, there would be every
probability of catching them unprepared. Excellent
arrangements were made; each frigate had her allotted
station, and the larger portion of her crew was divided
into storming parties, under their respective officers. The
master, with the remainder of the hands, being left in
charge of the ship. Each was to wear a distinctive badge,
so that they might know each other during the fighting.
The difficulties to be encountered were of no light
description. The harbour, only fifty fathoms wide, was
defended by regular fortifications ; one, Fort Amsterdam,
on the right of the entrance, mounting sixty guns in two
tiers. On the opposite side was a chain of forts, and at
the farther end an almost impregnable fortress, called
Fort Rtjpublique, enfilading it almost within grape-shot
distance. Besides these defences, a 36-gun frigate, a
20-gun corvette, and two large armed schooners lay athwart
the harbour, which nowhere exceeds a quarter-of-a-mile
in width.

At daylight the Arethusa leading, with a flag of truce at
the fore, followed by the other three frigates, entered the
port, receiving as she did so a warm fire from the Dutch,
who, however, only at that instant aroused out of their
beds, took but bad aim. In a few minutes the wind headed
the frigates, but shifting again, they stood on, and took up
their stations in favourable positions, with their broadsides
bearing on the Dutch forts and ships. So close in were
the frigates that the Arethusa's jib-boom was over the
wall of the town. Captain Brisbane now sent a summons
to the governor, to the effect that the British squadron
had come to protect, not to conquer the inhabitants, but
that if a shot was fired, he should immediately storm the
batteries. He wisely gave the governor but five minutes
to make Tip his mind. Receiving no answer, Captain
Brisbane ordered the .^hips to open their broadside, when
each having fired three, he and Captain Lydiard boarded
and carried the frigate and corvette. This done, they

334 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

proceeded to storm Fort Amsterdam, which, though strongly
garrisoned, was carried in about ten minutes, one party
breaking open the sea-gate with crowbars, while another
escaladed the walls. The citadel of the town, and several
other forts, were carried with equal celerity. A fire was
next opened upon Fort Re'publique, and preparations were
made to attack it in the rear with a body of 300 seamen
and marines, but so completely confounded were the garrison
by the suddenness of the assault that, though they might
have effectually resisted, and possibly blown the British
ships out of the water, they yielded without firing a shot,
and a little after 10 A.M. the British flag was hoisted on
their walls. Two hours later the island of Cura9oa capitu-
lated, and was taken possession of by the victors.

During this brilliant morning's work the total loss of the
English amounted to only 3 killed and 14 wounded, chiefly
in the capture of the ships ; and the Dutch lost 5 killed
and 8 wounded, besides nearly 200 men killed and wounded
on shore.

Many other gallant actions were fought between light
squadrons and single ships, and numerous cutting-out
expeditions in boats were successfully undertaken. During
these years the British line-of-battle ships attained a size
far greater than had existed at any preceding period. The
Caledonia, though ordered as far back as the year 1794,
did not begin building till January, 1805, and was launched
on the 25th of June, 1808. Though originally intended
to carry only 100 guns, she was altered to a 120-gun ship,
her draught being prepared by Sir William Rule, one of
the surveyors of the navy. Her length on the lower gun-
deck from the rabbet of the stem to the rabbet of the
stern-post was 205 feet; her extreme breadth 53 feet 8
inches ; her depth of hold 23 feet 2 inches ; and she was
of 2615 tons burden. Her net complement, including
marines and boys, was 891. She was, and continued to
be, the finest three-decker in the service. She excelled in
all essential qualities, rode easy at her anchors, carried
her lee-ports well, rolled and pitched quite easy, steered,
worked, and stayed remarkably well, was a weatherly ship,
and lay to very close, close-hauled under whole or single

INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 335

reefed top-sails. She went nine knots, and under all large
sail eleven knots.

She was followed by the Nelson, of the same size, the
Britannia, built at Plymouth, and the Prince Regent at
Chatham. Two others of a somewhat similar size were
subsequently added, the London, built at Plymouth, and
the Princess Charlotte at Portsmouth, in the year 1813.

The prizes captured during the year 1807 nearly doubled
that of any other period. At the same time, the losses
sustained by the navy were greater than had ever before
occurred, amounting to no less than 38 ships. Of these,
no fewer than 29 foundered at sea or were wrecked, a
large proportion of their crews perishing with them. The
navy of England had, however, greatly increased. At the
commencement of 1815 she possessed 124 line-of-battle
ships, averaging each 1830 tons; whereas at the end of
the previous century, they averaged only 1645 tons. If
we take a glance back to a still more distant period, we
shall judge better of the enormous progress made during
the last two centuries. In the year 1641 the navy of
England consisted of 42 ships, the aggregate tonnage of
which was 22,411 tons. At the period of which we are
writing it amounted to 966,000 tons, and within fifty years
of that period, Scott Russell launched in the Thames one
vessel of 22,500 tons, being in excess by 89 tons of the
whole British fleet at the time of Charles I. At that
period about 8000 men were considered sufficient to man
the navy, while in 1814, 146,000 men were voted ; the navy
estimates amounted to £18,786,509, and the burden of
901 ships amounted to 966,000 tons.

England, taught by the loss of several frigates captured
by American ships of the same class, though vastly superior
in size, began to construct frigates to compete with her foes.
Three small-class seventy-fours, the Majestic, Goliath, and
Saturn, were cut down so as to retain their main-deck
batteries, on which they were armed with 28 long 32-
pounders, while on their lower-decks they received an
equal number of 42-pounder carronades, besides two long
12-pounders as chase-guns; making 58 guns on two flush
decks, with a net complement of 495 men and boys.

S36 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

They thus, though denominated frigates, possessed a slightly
increased weight of metal in broadsides to that which they
before carried. It was hoped that with the aid of black
hammock-cloths thrown over the waist of the barricade,
they would be so disguised as to tempt any large American
frigates they might fall in with to come down and engage
Such ships would have been more than a match for the
heaviest of the American 44-gun frigates. They were in
reality two-decked ships, but, as it turned out, they had no
opportunity of proving their powers with any of the vessels
with which they were intended to cope.

Several other fine 50-gun frigates were built; the Endy
mion, Glasgow, and Liverpool, Forth, Liffey, and Severn
the three latter of fir, and the two before-mentioned o*.
pitch-pine ; the chief complaint made of them being that
their quarters were rather confined. They had a comple-
ment of 350 men and boys. Other smaller frigates were
constructed for economy's sake of yellow pine, most of them
carrying medium 24-pounders, with a complement of 330
men and boys. To the British Navy were also added two
classes of sloops of war ; the largest, of about 430 tons,
mounted 18 32-pounder carronades on the main-deck, and
6, 12, or 18-pounder carronades on the quarter-deck and
forecastle, with two long sixes, making a total of 26 guns,
with 121 men and boys. The second class was the 18-gun
brig- sloop. Another class of ship-sloops or corvettes were
fitted out for sea while Sir Joseph Yorke was First Lord
of the Admiralty, having a flush-deck, and carrying 18
32-pounder carronades and two long nines. They were
fitted with stern chase-ports, but from the narrowness of
their sterns there was no room to work the tiller, while
the guns were pointed from the ports. They were defec-
tive also in having their masts too slight, while they were
in other respects heavily rigged. The worst vessels, how-
ever, constructed at a later period, were the 10-gun brigs
of war, small, narrow craft, so low between decks that the
unfortunate commander, if a tall man, had to stand up,
with his head through the skylight, and his looking-glass
on deck, to shave himself. For many years commanders
were appointed to them with a crew of upwards of 100

TEN-GUN BRIGS. 337

men, two lieutenants, and other gun-room officers, as well
as midshipmen, whose berth measured seven feet by five.
Being excessively crank, the greater number foundered,
and gained for the class the unenviable title of " sea-coffins."
They and frigates carrying 28 guns, generally known in
the service by the name of "jackass-frigates," were the
worst class of vessels belonging of late years to the British
Navy. They existed, however, till steam power and the
screw compeller caused those that had escaped destruction
to be broken up or sold out of the service. For sonie years
previously, however, the 10'gun brigs were commanded by
lieutenants, with, of course, reduced crews.

CHAPTER XVII

lar toitlj Winitti* States 0f
m Sgrra.

(FROM A.D. 1811 TO A.D. 1840.)

UCH indignation had long been felt by the
people of the United States in consequence
of Great Britain claiming the right of search-
ing neutral vessels for deserters from our ships.
There existed, also, among them another cause
of annoyance. It was this, that while the rest of the world
were at war, the Americans had enjoyed the advantage of
being the carriers for other powers, and that Napoleon, in
the hope of crippling England, had declared all neutral
vessels that had touched at any of her home or colonial
ports liable to confiscation, thus virtually putting a stop to
the commerce of the United States. Instead of complaining
of France, the Americans put the blame on England, and
hoped by going to war with her to regain the carrying trade
they had lost. England had, besides, given great provoca-
tion as far back as the year 1807, when a small squadron
of British ships was stationed off the American coast.
Several men having deserted from the different ships, some
of them were received on board the United States frigate
Chesapeake. Hearing of the occurrence, the admiral at
Halifax despatched the 50-gun frigate Leopard, commanded
by Captain Humphries, with orders to the captains of any
of the ships should they fall in with the Chesapeake without
the limits of the United States to insist on searching her
for deserters. Having delivered her despatches, the Leo-
pard was lying with the rest of the squadron, when the
338

RIGHT OP SEAttCH CLAIMED BY ENGLAND. 339

Cliesapeake, which was at anchor in Hampton Roads, put
to sea on her way to the Mediterranean. On this, the
Leopard received orders from the British commodore,
to make sail in chase of her. Captain Humphries, shortly
afterwards, falling in with the Chesapeake, hailed to
say that he had a message from the British commander-in-
chief. To this the American commodore, Barron, replied,
" Send it on board — I will heave to." On the arrival of
the Leopard's lieutenant on board the Chesapeake, Com-
modore Barron declared that he had no such men on board
as were described. On the lieutenant's return, Captain
Humphries again hailed the Chesapeake, and receiving
unsatisfactory answers, observing also indications of intended
resistance on board the American frigate, he ordered a shot
to be fired across her forefoot. At intervals of two minutes
he fired others, but evasive answers only being returned,
and it being evident that the object of Commodore Barron
was only to gain time, the Leopard opened her fire in
earnest. After she had discharged three broadsides at the
American frigate the latter hauled down her colours, hav-
ing only returned a few guns. On this a lieutenant from
the Chesapeake came on board the Leopard with a verbal
message from Commodore Barron signifying that he con-
sidered his ship to be the Leopard's prize. Without
undertaking to receive her as such, Captain Humphries
sent two of his lieutenants, with several petty officers and
men, on board the Chesapeake to search for the deserters,
and the crew being mustered, one of them, who was dragged
out of the coal-hole, Jenkin Ratford, was recognised as a
deserter from the Halifax. Three others were found, who
had deserted from the Melampus, and about twelve more
from various British ships of war. The first four, however,
alone were carried on board the Leopard, when Commodore
Barron again offered to deliver up his frigate as a prize ; to
this Captain Humphries replied that, having fulfilled his
instructions, he had nothing more to desire, but must pro-
ceed to his destination. He, however, expressed his regret
at having been compelled to attack him, and offered all the
assistance in his power. The Chesapeake had indeed suffered
severely from the broadsides of the Leopard, twenty-two

340 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

shot being lodged in her hull, while her masts and rigging
were greatly damaged. She had lost three seamen killed,
while the commodore, one midshipman, and sixteen seamen
and marines were wounded. Though nearly a hundred
tons larger than the Leopard, and carrying a greater
weight of shot, while her crew numbered fifty men more, she
was almost unprepared for battle, so that no imputation
could be cast on Commodore Barren for not continuing
the engagement.

On arriving at Halifax the unfortunate Jenkin Ratford
was found guilty of mutiny and desertion, and was hanged
at the foreyard-arm of the ship from which he had deserted.
The other men, though found guilty of desertion, were
pardoned.

This untoward event was the cause of protracted diplo-
matic negotiations. Every apology was offered to the
United States, and England gave up all claim to the right
of searching mon-of-war of other nations for deserters.
About three years afterwards the British frigate Guerrier
impressed out of an American merchant- vessel a man
named Deguyo, said to be a citizen of the United States,
and shortly afterwards two other native Americans in the
belief that they all three were English subjects. At this
time the 44-gun frigate President, belonging to the United
States, lay moored in the Chesapeake. On receiving
directions from his government, Commodore Rogers, who
took the command, put to sea in search of the Guerrier on
the 12th of May, 1811. Soon after noon of the 16th, from
the mast-head of the President, a ship was descried stand-
ing towards her under a press of sail, which Commodore
Rogers at once concluded was the frigate Guerrier. The
stranger was, however, the British ship-sloop Little Belt,
mounting 18 32-pounder carronades, and 2 long nines,
with a crew of 120 men and boys, commanded by
Captain Bingham, who at the same time made out the
President. Captain Bingham, finding her signals un-
answered, felt assured that the stranger was an American
frigate, and continued his course round Cape Hatteras.
By the time the evening was closing in, the President was
up to her. Captain Bingham hailed, asking, " What ship is

li LITTLE BELT " AND " PRESIDENT."

that ? " Commodore Rogers merely repeated the ques-
tion. At that instant a gun was fired from the President,
as was afterwards alleged, by chance. On this the Little
Belt fired, and a furious action commenced, which lasted
upwards of half-an-hour, with a short intermission. The
after-sail of the Little Belt being shot away, and her rig-
ging much damaged, she fell off, so that, being unable to
bring her guns to bear on her antagonist, she ceased firing.
Commodore Rogers again hailed, when he received answer
that the vessel he had attacked was a British ship of
war, but, owing to the freshness of the breeze, he did not
hear her name. During this short engagement her masts
and yards were badly wounded, and her rigging cut to
pieces, while her hull was severely injured. She had lost
a midshipman and 10 men killed or mortally wounded,
and 21 wounded ; while the President had only one boy
wounded, and her rigging and masts but slightly injured.
The President now hove to to leeward during the night,
while the Little Belt was employed in stopping her leaks
and repairing damages. Next morning the first lieutenant
of the President came on board, expressing Commodore
Rogers' regret at the unfortunate affair, and stating that
had he known the size of the British ship he would not
have fired into her. Captain Bingham inquired why he
had fired at all ; on which the lieutenant replied that the
Little Belt had fired first. Captain Bingham denied this,
and the subject was long a matter of dispute — though there
can be no doubt that one of the President's guns went off,
possibly by chance, and that Captain Bingham lost no
time in replying to it. That Captain Bingham's conduct
was considered most gallant was proved by his being imme-
diately promoted to post-rank.

The following year the United States unhappily de-
clared war against Great Britain. The American govern-
ment had previously laid an embargo upon all their
national ships and vessels during a space of ninety days,
so that when war broke out on the 18th of June a large
number of fast-sailing vessels of all sizes were ready to
issue forth as privateers ; while Commodore Rogers, in
command of the squadron, consisting of the President,

342 POtULAR HISTORY Of THE BRITISH NAVY.

Unrited States, and Congress frigates, and two brigs of
war, sailed in hopes of capturing a fleet of above 100
homeward-bound Jamaica men, known to be off the coast,
under the convoy of a single frigate and brig. Fortunately
for the merchant-vessels, Commodore Rogers discovered the
British frigate Belvidera, of 36 guns, 18-pounders, com-
manded by Captain Byron, standing towards him. Cap-
tain Byron, having ascertained the character of the Ameri-
can squadron, tacked and made sail, not so much to escape
as to lead the enemy to a distance from their expected
prey. By consummate seamanship and gallantry, he kept
them employed, carrying on a spirited action with his two
long 18-pounders run through his stern-ports, and the two
32-pounder carronades on his quarter-deck, greatly galling
the President, and afterwards the Congress, when that
frigate got near enough to open her fire. So successfully
did he manoeuvre, that after leading his pursuers a long
chase, he escaped from them and got into Halifax. The .
Belvidera lost altogether 3 killed and 22 wounded. The
President, which was cut up in her rigging, lost 2 mid-
shipmen and a marine killed, and 22 officers and men
wounded ; while the Jamaica convoy reached England in
safety.

The war between England and her former dependencies
had now commenced in earnest. Since their independence,
the United States had taken pains to construct an efficient,
though small navy. Aware that it would be useless to
attempt building line-of-battle ships to compete with the
fleets of Europe, they had turned their attention to the
construction of frigates, to act as ocean cruisers, of a size
and armament capable of contending successfully with any
possessed by England, or indeed any other maritime
power. The result proved the wisdom and forethought of
their naval authorities. Their most famed frigates were
the Constitution, the United States, and President. The
other two were of the same size and force as the latter
vessel. The President measured 1533 tons : her sides and
bulwarks were thicker, and her spars and rigging stouter
than those of a British 74-gun ship, while she sailed
admirably. She was pierced for 56 guns, but only mounted

" GUERRIElt " CAPTUKED BY " CONSTITUTION." 343

52, of which 32 were long 24-pounders, and 20 42-pounders,
her complement being 480 men. The other two mounted
54 guns, and the Constitution carried 32 instead of 42-
pounder carronades.

On the 18th the Constitution, Captain Hull, then
cruising off the Gulf of St. Lawrence, having heard from
an American privateer that a British ship of war was
at a short distance to the southward, immediately made
sail in that direction. The ship of which Captain Hull
had heard was the British frigate Guerrier, commanded
by Captain Dacres, an officer of known talent and gallantry.
She carried 48 guns, including 30 long 18-pounders on the
main-deck, 16 carronades, 32-pounders, and 2 long nines
on her quarter-deck and forecastle. She measured under
1100 tons, and though her regular complement was 300
men and boys, she was nearly 40 men short. Seeing the
Constitution approaching, at 4.30 P.M. on the 19th the
Guerrier laid her main-topsail to the mast, to enable her
the more quickly to close. She then hoisted an English
ensign at the peak, another at the mizzen-topgallant mast-
head, and the Union Jack at the fore, and at 4.50 opened
her starboard broadside at the Constitution. The Ameri-
can frigate being admirably manceuvred, her heavy shot in
a short time began to tell with destructive effect on the
English frigate. The Guerrier's mizzen-mast was soon
carried away, as it fell, knocking a large hole in the
counter, and by dragging in the water, brought the ship
up in the wind — thus enabling the Constitution to place
herself on the Guerrier's larboard-bow, in which position
she opened a destructive fire of great guns and small arms
on the British frigate, who could only return it with her
bow guns. The riflemen in the Constitution's tops con-
tinued firing all the time with unerring aim. Captain
Dacres was severely wounded, as were several of his
officers. At length the Guerrier's fore-mast and mizzen-
mast were carried over the side, leaving a defenceless
wreck, rolling her main-deck guns in the water. From the
rotten state of her breachings, many of her guns broke
loose, but still Captain Dacres, having cleared away the
wreck of his masts, continued the action, till the Constitu-

344 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

tion, having rove new braces, took up a position within
pistol-shot of the Guerrier's starboard-quarter. Finding
his ship utterly unmanageable, to prevent further sacrifice
of life, Captain Dacres at 6.45 hauled down the Union Jack
from the stump of the mizzen-mast, the only stick he had
standing. The Guerrier in this desperate action lost 15
men killed and 63 wounded, 6 of the latter mortally;
while the Constitution, out of her 468 men and boys, lost
7 killed and about double that number more or less
wounded. Though the Americans might well be gratified
at the result of the action, the English had no cause to be
ashamed at the loss of the Guerrier to a ship the weight
of whose broadside was nearly one-half heavier than that
of her own, especially when a considerable number of the
Constitution's crew were English seamen, and all had
been carefully trained.

On the 25th of October the Macedonian, a frigate of
the same size as the Guerrier, was captured by the United
States, a frigate in all respects similar to the Constitution.
Commodore Decatur, commanding the United States, used
every effort to induce the crew of the captured frigate
to enter the American service, though, to the credit of
British seamen, the band alone, who were foreigners, and
three or four others, said to be Americans, yielded to his
persuasions.

The third British frigate, also of the size and force of
the two preceding ones, captured by the Americans was
the Java, taken by the Constitution, on the 29th of Sep-
tember. The Java was originally the French frigate
Renommee, and had been commissioned at Portsmouth by
Captain Lambert to carry out Lieutenant-General John
Hislop, the governor of Bombay. Her crew, hurriedly got
together, were inefficient in the extreme. They consisted
of 60 raw Irishmen, 50 mutinous fellows sent from on board
the Coquette, a body of 50 marines, several of whom were
recruits, while the prison-ships and press-gangs furnished
a large portion of the remainder. Exclusive of the petty-
officers, the best of the crew consisted of eight seamen, who
were allowed to volunteer from the Rodney. Indeed,
scarcely fifty of the whole ship's company had ever been

" JAVA " AND " CONSTITUTION."

in action, while the ship herself was hurriedly fitted out,
lumbered up with stores, and scarcely in a condition to put
to sea. Meeting with a succession of heavy gales, it was
not till the 28th December that Captain Lambert had an
opportunity of exercising his men at firing the guns, when
the Java fired six broadsides with blank cartridges, the
first the greater number of his crew had ever discharged.
While steering for St. Salvador to obtain water, early the
following morning, the Java sighted the Constitution, and
made sail in chase. Standing to the wind, which was very
fresh, the Java rapidly gained on her, and at length the
two ships being within half-a-mile of each other, the Con-
stitution fired her larboard broadside, which the Java
waited to return till she got considerably nearer, when she
fired her broadside, every shot of which took effect. The
untrained British crew lost soon after this an opportunity
of raking their powerful antagonist. Most gallantly Cap-
tain Lambert fought his ship, and his rigging being cut to
pieces and masts injured, with several officers and men
killed and wounded, he determined to board his antagonist
as affording the best chance of success. His bowsprit,
however, catching the starboard mizzen-rigging of the Con-
stitution, his ship was brought up to the wind, and he lost
the opportunity both of raking her or boarding. While in
this position, Captain Lambert fell mortally wounded, when
the command devolved on Lieutenant Henry Chads. The
Constitution getting clear, had now the Java at her mercy.
Still, animated by their officers, her crew, bad as they
were, worked energetically at their guns, and seeing the
Constitution standing off to repair damages, cheered under
the belief that she was taking to flight. After the action
had lasted rather more than three hours, the Constitution
placing herself so as to rake the dismasted Java, Lieu-
tenant Chads ordered the colours to be lowered from the
stump of the mizzen-mast, and the frigate was taken pos-
session of by the victor. The whole of the Java's boats,
and all except one of the Constitution's, were knocked to
pieces. The operation of conveying the prisoners on board
the American frigate occupied a considerable time. As
soon as it was accomplished, the Java, being much shattered

346 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

was set on fire. Though the Americans behaved civilly to
the British officers, the crew complained bitterly of being
handcuffed and otherwise severely treated. The Java had
her captain, 3 masters' mates, 2 midshipmen, and 1 super-
numerary clerk killed, and 17 seamen and marines, and
102 officers and men wounded, among whom was her
gallant first lieutenant.

Several brig-sloops and other small craft were also cap-
tured during the war by the Americans, who had every rea-
son to be proud of the gallantry displayed by their seamen.
Success, however, did not always attend on the " star-
spangled banner," and, as was natural, the captains of the
British 38-gun frigates were eager to fall in with one of the
famed American forty-fours. Among others, Captain Philip
Vere Broke, commanding the Shannon frigate, resolved, if
possible, to show what a well-disciplined crew could do. He
had from the time he had been appointed to her, several
years before, diligently exercised his crew in gunnery, so
that those who knew him and his ship's company felt con-
fident of his success. The following lines, written soon
after the commencement of the war, prove this : —

" And as the war they did provoke,

We'll pay them with our cannon;
The first to do it will be Broke,
In the gallant ship the Shannon."

The following song well describes the far-famed
action : —

mib the "<Shamtcm.

AT Boston one day, as the Chesapeake lay,

The captain, his crew thus began on:
See that ship out at sea, she our prize soon shall be;
'Tis the tight little frigate the Shannon. «

Oh, 'twill be a good joke
To take Commodore Broke,
And add to our navy the /Shannon.

Then he made a great bluster^ calling all hands to muster,
And said, Now boys, stand firm to your cannon;

Let us got under weigh without further delay,
And capture the insolent Shannon.

" CHESAPEAKE " AND " SHANNON." 347

Within two hours' space
We'll return to this place,
And bring into harbour the Shannon.

Now alongside they range, and broadsides they exchange,

But the Yankees soon flinch from their cannon;
When the captain and crew, without further ado,
Are attacked, sword in hand, from the Sliannon.
The brave commodore of the Shannon
Fired a friendly salute
Just to end the dispute,
And the Chesapeake struck to the Shannon.

Let America know the respect she should show

To our national flag and our cannon;
And let her take heed that the Thames and the Tweed
Give us tars just as brave as the Shannon.
Here's to Commodore Broke of the Shannon;
May the olive of peace
Soon bid enmity cease
From the Chesapeake shore to the Shannon.

In March, 1813, Captain Broke sailed from Halifax in
company with the Tenedos, Captain Hyde Parker. Cap-
tain Broke, finding that the Constitution and ChesapeaJce
were in Boston Harbour, the former undergoing consider-
able repairs, sent Captain Parker away, in hopes that the
latter would come out and fight him. The Chesapeake
was at this time commanded by a gallant officer, Captain
Lawrence. Although Captain Broke captured several
prizes, rather than weaken his crew, he destroyed them all,
while he remained off the port waiting for the expected
encounter. At length, having waited till the 1st of June,
Captain Broke addressed a letter of challenge to Captain
Lawrence, which begins : " As the Chesapeake appears
now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favour to
meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune
of our respective flags ; " and added, " You will feel it as a
complimeat if I say, that the result of our meeting may be
the most grateful service I can render to my country ; and
I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel
convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in ' even
combats' that your little .navy can now hope to console
your country for the loss of that trade it can no longer
protect."

S48 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVlf.

The Shannon, having stood in close to Boston Light-
house, with colours flying, lay to, when the Chesapeake
was seen at anchor. She shortly afterwards, under all
sail, stood out of the harbour, accompanied by numerous
yachts and a schooner gunboat, with several American
naval officers on board. At half-past five in the afternoon
the Chesapeake, with a large flag flying, on which was
inscribed the words, "Sailor's rights and free trade,"
approached the Shannon, and soon afterwards, luffing up
within about fifty yards of her starboard-quarter, gave
three cheers. At 5.50 P.M. the Shannon's aftermost main-
deck gun was fired, and the two combatants exchanged
broadsides. The Chesapeake, however, coming sharply up
to the wind, in consequence of all the men at her helm
being killed, was exposed to a shot from the Shannon's
aftermost gun, which took a diagonal direction along her
decks, beating in her stern-ports and sweeping the men
from their quarters. The Shannon's foremost guns also
did considerable damage. In a few minutes the Chesapeake
fell on board the Shannon, when Captain Broke, ordering
the two ships to be lashed together, called away the main-
deck boarders, and, followed by about twenty men, sprang
on to her quarter-deck, which had been completely
deserted. The British were, however, encountered on the
gangways by some twenty-five or thirty Americans, who
made but slight resistance, and being driven towards the
forecastle, endeavoured to escape down the fore-hatchway,
while others plunged overboard. The remainder threw
down their arms and submitted. During this time the
boarders were exposed to a destructive fire from the main
and mizzen-tops, which continued till the main -top was
gallantly stormed by a midshipman, William Smith, and
five topmen. Having made their way along the Shannon's
fore-yard on to that of the Chesapeake' s main-yard, another
midshipman, Mr. Cosnahan, climbing up on the starboard
main-yard, fired at the Americans in the mizzen-top, when
he compelled them to yield. Captain Broke, at the
moment of victory, was nearly killed, having been cut
down by one of three Americans, who, after they had
yielded, seized some arms and attacked their victors. The

CAPTURE OF THE " CHESAPEAKE." 340

Americans, also, who had fled to the hold, opened a fire of
musketry, which killed a marine. A still more unfortunate
accident occurred; the Shannon's first lieutenant, Mr.
Watt, after being severely wounded, was in the act of
hoisting the English flag, when the halliards getting en-
tangled, the American ensign went up first, and, observing
this, the Shannon's people reopened their fire, and he and
several of those around him were killed before the mistake
was rectified. Captain Broke, who had been assisted to a
carronade slide, directed Lieutenant Falkiner to summon
the Americans in the hold to give in if they expected
quarter. They shouted out, "We surrender," and all
opposition ceased. From the moment the first gun was
fired till Captain Broke led his boarders on the deck of
the Chesapeake, only eleven minutes elapsed, and in four
minutes more she was his. Including the first lieutenant,
her purser, and captain's clerk, the Shannon lost 24 killed
and 59 wounded, two of these,her boatswain and one midship-
man mortally ; while the Chesapeake lost 47 killed, among
whom was her fourth lieutenant, her master, one lieutenant
of marines, and 3 midshipmen, and 14 mortally wounded,
including her brave commander, and his first lieutenant,
and 99 wounded. Other accounts state that the killed
and wounded amounted to nearly 170. Among the 325
prisoners taken on board the Chesapeake, above 32 were
British seamen. Several of the Shannon's men recognised
old shipmates among their foes, and one of the former,
when boarding, was about to cut down an enemy, when he
was stopped by the cry, "What! you Bill!" "What!
Jack!" "Ay, Bill, but it won't do — so here goes," and
the poor fellow sprang overboard, and was drowned, rather
than meet the fate which might have been his lot, as he
had deserted from the Shannon a few months before.

The two frigates were pretty equally matched, there
being a slight superiority only in favour of the Chesapeake,
which was 31 tons larger, and had a crew of fully 70 more
men. The gallant Captain Lawrence and his first lieu-
tenant, Augustus Ludlow, died of their wounds, the former
on the passage to Halifax, the latter on his arrival, and
were buried there with all the honours their victors could

350 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

bestow. Their remains were shortly afterwards removed
in a cartel to the United States.

Passing over a number of actions between smaller vessels^
in which sometimes the English and at others the Americans
were the victors, a celebrated combat in the Pacific between
two frigates, the American being the smallest, must be
mentioned. In October, 1822, the United States 32-gun
frigate Essex, commanded by Captain David Porter, sailed
from Delaware Bay on a cruise in the Pacific. Having
captured several whale-ships, he named one of them the
Essex Junior, and having visited the Marquesas, where he
exhibited his prowess against the natives, he reached
Valparaiso about the 12th of January, 1814. The British
36-gun frigate Phoebe, Captain James Hillyar, with the
18-gun ship-sloop Cherub, Captain Tucker, which vessels
had sailed in search of him, standing towards Valparaiso,
on the 8th of February discovered the American cruisers,
with several prizes at anchor in the harbour. For a couple
of weeks or more Captain Hillyar did his best to draw the
American ships out of the port. Captain Porter, however,
had considered that his most prudent course was to
attempt to escape, and he and his consort were on the
point of doing so, a strong wind blowing out of the
harbour, when the Essex was struck by a squall, which
carried away her main-topmast. She accordingly bore up
and anchored, while the Essex Junior ran back into the
harbour. The Phoebe and Cherub made sail towards
them. The former at length got near enough to open her
fire. Captain Hillyar now ordered Captain Tucker to
keep under way, while he himself stood in closer with the
intention of anchoring close to the Essex. The latter ship
now cut her cable, and endeavoured to run on shore, but the
strong wind from the land blew her off towards the Phoebe,
and she had again to let go an anchor. By this time
most of her boats were destroyed. The three boats from
the Essex Junior were alongside, carrying off the specie
and other valuables in the ship. Those of her crew who
were English taking the opportunity of escaping, a report
was raised at this juncture that the ship was on fire, and a
number of her men leaped overboard during the confusion.

" PH(EBE " AND " ESSEX."

At about 6.30 P.M. the Essex hauled down her flags, and
the boats of the Phoebe, pulling for her, saved the lives of
16 of her crew who were in the water, though too late to
rescue 30 others who perished ; while between 30 and 40
reached the shore. The Phoebe lost 5 killed and 10
wounded, and the Americans 24 killed, including one of
the lieutenants, and 45 wounded. As soon as the Essex
could be repaired, the command of her being given to
Lieutenant Charles Pearson, she and the Phoebe sailed for
England, and anchored safely in Plymouth Sound, although
Captain Porter had stated that the damage she had
received would prevent her making the voyage. Of the
prizes she had taken, not one reached the States, all
having been recaptured, with the exception of three,
which were burnt by the Americans, and one, the Seringa-
patam, the American prize-crew of which mutinied and
carried her to New South Wales, whence she was brought
to England and delivered to her former owners ; while the
Essex herself was placed on the list of the British Navy.
Those who have read the journals of Captain Porter's
cruise in the Pacific will feel very little pity for him
on account of its result.

This miserable war, proved, on the whole, disastrous to the
Americans. The ships of the English squadron on their
coasts were employed in sailing up their rivers, destroying
their towns, as also in despatching numerous boat expedi-
tions to cut out their merchantmen, and to attack the gun-
boats prepared for the defence of their harbours. At the
same time, both parties fitted out flotillas on the great
lakes, where a number of engagements, often with heavy
losses on either side, occurred. The principal British
officer employed in this service was Sir James Yeo, who
was sent with a small body of seamen to man the ships on
these fresh-water seas. Some of these vessels were of
large size ; one named the Prince Regent measured 1310
tons, and carried 58 guns, with a complement of 485 men
and boys. Another, the Princess CJiarlotte, measured 815
tons, and carried 42 guns. The larger number of vessels,
however, were of much smaller size. The Americans had
also several powerful vessels, and before the close of the

352 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

war they had actually begun to build one 74 and a frigate,
to vie with a ship built by the English called the St.
Lawrence, of 2305 tons, and intended to mount 102 guns.
None of these large craft, however, went out of harbour.
The whole of the gear and stores for these vessels had
been brought overland at a considerable expense, and it
was said that the Admiralty sent out a supply of water-
casks, forgetting that their ships were to navigate fresh-
water seas. To make any of the actions which took place
intelligible, far more space would be required than can be
afforded. Happily, by the end of 1814, this unnatural
and ill-advised war was brought to a conclusion; the
Americans finding that although occasionally victorious,
they were in the end greatly the losers. It left, however,
an amount of ill-feeling between the two nations which
the war of independence had failed to create, and which it
took many years to eradicate — though, happily, at the
present time the people of both countries are too right-
minded and enlightened to wish to see a recurrence of a
similar contest, both convinced that it is to their mutual
interest to remain in amity, and to cultivate to the ut-
most that good understanding which has for long happily
existed.

After the conclusion of the war, the Caribbean Sea was
infested by a number of piratical vessels manned by blacks
and desperate characters of all nations, which committed
great havoc among the British merchantmen. Though
several were from time to time captured,the pirates still con-
tinued their depredations. Bad as they were, some proved
themselves not altogether destitute of humanity. On one
occasion a small vessel, tender to his majesty's frigate
Tyne, commanded by Lieutenant Hobson, with a crew of
20 men, was surprised and captured by a powerful piratical
craft. The pirates were, according to their usual custom,
about to hang their prisoners ; but seized with compunc-
tion, or dreading the consequences of their intended crime,
they spared their lives, and allowed them to return to their
ship. As it happened, the very men who had acted so
humane a part were shortly afterwards captured, and the
circumstance not being taken into consideration in their

PIRATES Otf THE CARRIBEAtf.

favour, they were hanged at Jamaica. At this time, a
desperate character, naaie-l Cayatano Aragonez, com-
manded a schooner called the Zaragonaza, of 120 tons,
carrying a long swivel 18-pounder, 4 long 9-pounders,
and 8 swivels, with a crew of between 70 and 80 men.
Hearing of the way his friends had been treated, looking
upon it as an ungenerous act, he vowed to take fearful
revenge on all the English he could capture. Summoning
his men, he bound them under an oath never to spare an
Englishman's life, and in the event of being captured, to
blow up themselves and their enemies. Some time before,
they had taken a black man, a native of Jamaica, who had
been compelled to act as their cook. In order thoroughly
to commit his crew, Aragonez resolved on the sacrifice of
the hapless negro. In vain he pleaded for mercy ; he was
hauled out to the end of the spritsail-yard, when the mis-
creants commenced firing at him from the deck, and thus
tortured him for twenty minutes before death put an end
to his sufferings. Sir Charles Rowley, commander-in-chief
in the West Indies, having determined to put a stop to
the exploits of the pirates, despatched the Tyne, under the
command of Captain Walcott, accompanied by the sloop
of war Thracian, to look out for and destroy them. Their
chief places of rendezvous were known to be among the
numerous keys or sandy islets off the coast of Cuba. Cap-
tain Walcott, after for a long time vainly searching for the
pirates, was informed by the master of an American pilot-
boat that a schooner supposed to be the Zaragonaza had
been seen cruising off Barracoa, at the east end of Cuba.
Captain Walcott endeavoured to bribe the American pilot
to remain with him, He, however, declined the risk,
declaring it was impossible to capture the schooner with
boats, and as she was a remarkably fast sailer, she was sure
to escape ; should the enterprise not succeed, he- would
become known as the informer, and be no longer able
to act as pilot in the Bahama Channel. This was a
disappointment to Captain Walcott, who knowing that two
Spanish men-of-war schooners were cruising off the coast,
and that there were numerous trading schooner of the
same appearance, feared that the pirates would escape

354 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

However, on the 31st of March, the two British ships
discovered the vessel of which they were in search off
Barracoa. Captain Walcott had disguised both ships as
merchant-vessels, and their sails being set in a slovenly
manner, they stood in towards the schooner. For several
hours it was evident that the pirate did not suspect what
they were. Before, however, they got up with her, she,
setting all sail, steered for the harbour of Mata. On this
the frigate and sloop crowded every stitch of canvas they
could carry in chase. The wind, however, failed them
before they could get up to the schooner, which, running
in to the harbour, at 1.30 P.M., was seen moored head and
stern athwart it, with the Spanish colours flying aloft.
The entrance of the harbour not being more than a cable's
length in width, even the Thracian could not venture to
approach close enough to attack the schooner. Captain
Walcott, therefore, ordered out the boats, which carried
altogether forty-seven men, and believing that a desperate
resistance would be made, and that should the attack fail
the pirates would slaughter all they might capture, he
determined to lead the expedition himself. As he shoved
off, he desired Commander Roberts of the Thracian to
get as close as possible, so as to render all the assistance in
his power. The sea was calm, the boats were in full view
of the pirate. Shoving off from the ship's sides, they
pulled gallantly towards her. At 3 P.M. they arrived
within gunshot, when up went the black flag, thus giving
undoubted evidence of the character of the craft, while
the schooner opened her fire, at the same time -bullets
came flying round the boats from a number of the pirate
crew who had been landed, and been stationed under
shelter among the trees which grew close to the shore of
the harbour. Still the British boats pulled steadily on in
two divisions, Captain Walcott's intention being to board
the pirate on both sides at once. Each of the pinnaces
carried carronades, which were now rapidly fired, while
the marines began to blaze away, thus partially, by the
smoke which circled round them, concealing the boats and
preventing the pirates from taking exact aim. As the
boats approached, the deck of the pirate was seen crowded

GALLANT CAPTURE OF THE " ZARAGONAZA." 355

with men, and boarding nettings triced up. Three-quarters
of an hour had the British seamen been exposed to her
fire, as well as to that from the men on shore, when
Captain Walcott issued the order to dash alongside. For
a few moments the pirates ceased firing, being employed
in loading all their guns in the hopes of sending their
assailants with one broadside to the bottom. Three hearty
cheers were given, and so rapidly did the boats approach
that the shots flew over them, and before the schooner's
guns could be reloaded, the boats were up to her, and the
seamen began climbing on board — no easy matter, for the
sides were unusually high, and had been greased all over
so as to render it as difficult as possible. At that moment
the pirate crew losing heart, began to leap overboard and
swim towards the shore, in the hopes of preserving their
lives. Many, however, were cut down before they 'could
make their escape, while others were captured in the
water. Among them Aragonez himself was taken, with
27 besides, 10 were killed, and 15 wounded; while the
English lost 1 man killed and 4 wounded in this most
gallant affair. Captain Walcott then sent a requisi-
tion to the governor of Barracoa, which induced him to
dispatch a party in search of those who had escaped
into the woods, when sixteen more were captured and
immediately put to death by the Spaniards. The Tyne
then sailed with her prisoners for Jamaica, when two of
them turnmg king's evidence, their chief and the re-
mainder of the miscreant band were executed. The affair
may well take rank with any of the most brilliant boat
services on record, and Admiral Rowley expressed in a
general order his sense of the admirable skill and courage
with which the enterprise had been carried out. That
most graphic of writers, Michael Scott, who spent many
years in the West Indies, had evidently heard of it when
he wrote "Tom Cringle's Log." The capture of Lieu-
tenant Hobson by the pirates, and his subsequent release,
afforded him the idea of the captive of his hero by the pica-
roon, while the destruction of Obed's schooner in a harbour
off Cuba, with not a few additional touches, was also taken
from the account of the capture of the Zaragonaza.

3i6 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The piratical cruisers belonging to Algiers had long
been the terror of the merchantmen of all nations. The
Algerines not only plundered but massacred the crews of
the vessels they captured, and it was supposed that many
hundreds had fallen into their power. Their crowning
act of atrocity was the murder of the crews of three
hundred small vessels engaged in the coral fishery off
Bona, near Algiers, who, being Christians, had landed to
visit a church. At length the British Government deter-
mined to put a stop to their proceedings, and Lord
Exmouth, who had just returned to England, after having
compelled the Dey of Tunis to restore 1792 slaves to
freedom, and to sign a treaty for the abolition of Christian
slavery, was appointed to the command of a fleet which
sailed from Plymouth on the 28th of July, 1816, with his
flag flying on board the Queen Charlotte, of 100 guns,
Captain James Brisbane. During the passage out, every
ship in the fleet was exercised with the great guns, firing
at a target hung from the end of the fore-topmast studding-
sail-boom rigged out for the purpose, so that they became
unusually expert. Lord Exmouth's fleet consisted of only
five line-of-battle ships, with the 50-gun ship Leander,
four frigates, and several sloops of war and bomb-vessels.
Misled by the charts, which were altogether defective,
Lord Nelson had required ten sail of the line, and the
same number of bomb-vessels, when he proposed to attack
Algiers, but the harbour and fortifications had lately been
surveyed by*Captain Warde, who had found the entrance
of the harbour much narrower than had been supposed.
The fortifications were, however, formidable in the ex-
treme, the batteries defending the town bristling with
several tiers of heavy guns, while powerful forts com-
manded the approaches. On the mole alone were upwards
of 200 guns, and altogether 500 guns, few being smaller
than 24-pounders, defended the piratic city. On reaching
Gibraltar, Lord Exmouth found a Dutch squadron, Vice-
Admiral Van de Cappellon, who entreated leave to co-
operate with him, commanding it. After some delay owing
to contrary winds, on the 14th of August the English and
Dutch fleets, accompanied by several additional gunboats,

BOMBARDMENT OF ALGIERS. 957

sailed for Algiers. On their way they met the Prometheus
sloop of war, Captain Dashwood, which had on bdard the
wife, daughter, and infant child of the British consul, Mr.
M'Donnell. The two ladies, disguised in midshipmen's
uniforms, had with great difficulty escaped, but as they
were passing through the gateway the infant, who had
been concealed in a basket, uttering a cry, was detained
and carried to the dey. It should be recorded as a
solitary instance of his humanity that it was sent off the
next morning to its mother by the dey. The surgeon of
the Prometheus with three midshipman and the crews of
two boats, consisting in all of eighteen persons, had been
detained.

The fleet being becalmed, Lord Exmouth sent a lieu-
tenant in one of the Queen Charlotte's boats with a flag
of truce to the dey, demanding the immediate .liberation
of the British consul and the people belonging to the
Prometheus, the abolition of Christian slavery, the
delivery of all Christian slaves in the Algerine state, and
the repayment of the money exacted for the redemption of
Neapolitan and Sardinian slaves, and peace with the King
of the Netherlands. Before the answer had been received,
a breeze sprung up, and the fleet standing in to the harbour,
the ships took up their appointed positions before the city.
The Queen Charlotte made herself fast to the main-mast
of a brig on shore close to the mole. Near her lay the
Leander, while the other ships arranged themselves to bring
their guns to bear on different parts of the city, the lighter
vessels bringing up abreast of any openings they could
find in the line of battle. Scarcely had the Queen Charlotte
brought up, when a shot was fired at her from the city,
followed by two other guns, when Lord Exmouth seeing a
large body of soldiers standing on the parapet of the
mole, watching the ships, mercifully waved his hand to
them to make their escape, and as they were leaping
down, the Queen Charlotte opened her starboard broad-
side, the other ships following her example. So admir-
ably were her guns served that her third broadside
completely levelled the south end of the mole, when,
changing her position, she attacked the batteries over

358 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the town-gate, and brought the guns on it tumbling
over the battlements. Soon after this an Algerine frigate
was boarded by the flag-ship's barge, under Lieutenant
Kichards, and her crew driven overboard. Till about
ten at night the ships kept up a furious fire at the
town and forts ; and by this time all the Algerine ships
and vessels within the harbour were burning, as were the
arsenal and storehouses on the mole, while several parts
of the city were in flames. A fire-ship, which had been
prepared at Gibraltar, was now, under the conduct of
Captain Herbert Powell, run on shore, close under the
semicircular battery, to the northward of the lighthouse,
and exploding, committed great damage to the enemy. At
length, the fire from most of the forts being silenced, and
the batteries on the mole being in a state of dilapidation,
the ammunition of the attacking ships falling short, Lord
Exmouth took advantage of a light air of wind off the land
to cut his cables, and stand out of fire, ordering the other
ships to follow his example. Severe as had been the
punishment inflicted on the Algerines, the allied squadrons
suffered considerably, the British having lost 128 killed and
690 wounded, and the Dutch 13 killed and 52 wounded ;
while many of the ships had had their masts injured, and
the Impregnable and Leander had received numerous shot
in their hulls — the first ship to the number of 233; an
18-pound shot had entered the bulwark, passed through the
heart of the main-mast, and had gone out on the opposite
side. The Algerines were said to have lost between 4000
and 7000 men. Next morning a boat was again sent on
shore with a note to the dey, repeating the demands of
the preceding morning. She was met by an Algerine
officer, who declared that an answer, yielding to all de-
mands, had been at once sent. Finally, the dey agreed
to the terms, and upwards of 1200 Christian slaves were
delivered up, besides the British consul and the people
from the Prometheus, 30,000 dollars to the British consul
for the destruction of his property, and an apology to him,
the restoration of the 382,500 dollars for the slaves re-
deemed by Naples and Sicily, and peace with the King
of the Netherlands.

WAR WITH BURMAH. 359

Numerous promotions followed as rewards to the officers
engaged in this most important expedition, the objects of
which were so fully attained. As a proof of the disin-
terestedness of the British, it should be known that of all
the slaves liberated few, if any, were English. The Dutch
admiral and his officers behaved with the greatest gallantry,
each ship taking up her position as close to the enemy's
batteries as she could get. It was the first time that wooden
ships were fairly matched against stone walls ; the result
proved that, provided the ships can get close enough, the
advantage will be on their side, unless the stone batteries
are of far greater thickness than any that had hitherto
been erected.

Severe as had been the lesson received, scarcely eight
years had passed by before the Algerincs had again sent
their cruisers to sea. In consequence of this, Sir Harry
B. Neale, then the British admiral in the Mediterranean,
received directions to inflict a fresh punishment on them.
Before proceeding to extremities, however, he despatched
the Naiad, Captain Spencer, to destroy a large 16-gun
piratical brig, which had taken shelter under the fortress
of Bona. The service was performed in the most gallant
way by Lieutenant Quin, first lieutenant of the Naiad, with
her boats, he having pulled in under a tremendous fire from
the fortress, boarded and blown up the brig. Sir Harry
then appeared off the place with his squadron, and the dey,
without the slightest resistance, yielded to all his demands.

Six years after this the French, landing a powerful army,
captured the fortress by attacking it in the rear, and took
possession of the country.

3Bar toitfi 'Burma!)*

(1826.)

England had been at peace for nearly nine years, when
the aggressions of the Burmese on the territories of the
East India Company induced the Government to send an
expedition into the Irrawaddy, a deep river which runs
past Ava, the capital of the country, for several hundred
miles into the sea, with many important places on its

360 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

banks. British troops, under the command of Sir Archibald
Campbell, and a small squadron, under the command of
Commodore Grant in the Liffey, sailed for Rangoon. The
other ships were the Lame, Commander Frederick Marryat,
the Slaney, of 20 guns, and Sophie, an 18-gun brig, four
of the Company's cruisers, and a number of small craft to
serve as gunboats.

Rangoon having been bombarded by the squadron, the
troops landed, and drove the enemy, after some severe
fighting, from their stockades. The English flotilla was
actively engaged in capturing cargo-boats, which, being
cut .down, served well for landing the troops. Captain
Marryat, the celebrated novelist, on all occasions especially
distinguished himself, showing that he could fight as well
as write. Sickness, however, attacked both the seamen
and soldiers. In a short time 749 of the latter had died,
and thousands were in the hospital; while Commodore
Grant and a large number of the seamen had also
succumbed to disease. Captain Marryat having been
promoted into the Tees, happily for himself, left the expedi-
tion. Captain Chads now commanded the squadron, to
which, at the recommendation of Captain Marryat, the
Diana steam-vessel had been added. Though she was
unarmed — for at that time no one thought that steamers
could carry guns — she was of great service during the
harassing warfare in towing vessels and boats. Still the
fever increased to an alarming degree, though some of the
invalids when removed to places near the sea, and to float-
ing hospitals, which were established at the mouth of the
Rangoon river, recovered.

Though generally successful, the troops were repulsed in
an attack upon the pagoda of Keykloo, with a loss of 21
officers and men killed, and 74 wounded, while 28, who
had been made prisoners, were found fastened to the trunks
of trees on the roadside, mangled and mutilated in the
most horrible manner. Sir Archibald Campbell having
determined to attack Rangoon, a flotilla of gun-vessels
and a mortar-boat were sent up under Lieutenant Keele,
the command of the land force being confided to Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Godwin. Lieutenant Keele and those under

EXPEDITION UP THE IRRAWADDY. 361

him behaved most gallantly, destroying thirty of the enemy's
war-boats and opening a heavy fire on the stockades, while
the troops stormed and carried the fortress. The Burmese
were next driven from Kemerdine, a fortified village above
Rangoon. Their war-boats gave considerable trouble, some
of them being of large size and carrying a long 9-pounder
apiece, with a crew of 76 oarsmen, besides warriors. A
squadron of boats, however, captured a considerable num-
ber, sank others, and put the rest to flight. The steamer
Diana, on board which several carronades had been placed,
with a party of small-arm men, did good service under the
command of Lieutenant Kellet. The enemy, not aware
of the rapidity of her movements, were overtaken, and
upwards of forty of their boats were captured.

JSarly in 1825 Captain Alexander, of the 28-gun frigate
Alligator, arrived out and took command; but he was
shortly superseded by Sir James Brisbane — he, however,
having to leave the station on account of ill-health, Captain
Chads again took the command of the flotilla. The army
advanced, and the little squadron pushed up the river ;
Donabew and Proom were taken, on each occasion the
squadron acting an important part. Meaday was next
captured, and before the close of the year the force reached
Melloone, which also quickly fell. Still pressing forward,
the army and squadron arrived at Yandaboo, forty-five miles
only from Ava — the Burmese, whenever they were met,
being completely defeated. For nearly a year the naval
officers and their men were away from their ships, rowing
and tracking their boats by day against a rapid stream,
and at night protected only by awnings, and often hard
pressed for provisions. For upwards of two months they
were entirely destitute of fresh meat. Still, all behaved
admirably. The defeat of his army, and the rapid approach
of the British, at length induced the King of Ava to sue for
peace ; and Sir Archibald allowing him only ten hours to
decide, he agreed to enter upon a commercial treaty upon
the principles of reciprocal advantage, to send a minister to
reside at Calcutta, to cede certain provinces conquered by
the British, and to pay a million of money as an indemnity
to the British, a large portion being immediately handed

362 POPULAE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

over. This was brought down the Irrawaddy, a distance
of 600 miles, and conveyed to Calcutta by Captain Chads.
The Companionship of the Bath was bestowed upon the
leaders of the expedition, and all the lieutenants and passed
midshipmen were promoted — an acknowledgment of the
admirable way in which they had performed their duties
during the long and arduous service in which they had
been engaged.

Cfie Second QBurmege <K3ar*

(1851-52.)

After a time the Burmese forgot the lesson they had
received, and having frequently violated the treaty of 1826,
it became necessary to bring them to order. An army of
about 6000 men, under General Godwin, who had taken a
leading part in the previous operations, was sent out ;
while the commander-in -chief on the Indian station
despatched a small squadron, under the command of
Commodore Lambert, of the Fox, 40 guns, with the Ser-
pent, Rattler, Hermes, and Salamander, to which the
East India Company added 13 steamers. A naval bri-
gade was formed, and served on shore, under Lieutenant
D'Orville, first of the Fox. Most of the places which had
before been taken had again to be attacked, and were
captured much in the same way as before, though not
without severe fighting. The squadron was further in-
creased by the arrival of the Winchester, Captain Loch.
Whereas before only one steamer belonged to the squadron,
it now consisted of a number of well-armed steam-vessels,
suited for the navigation of shallow waters. The boats
belonging to the ships co-operated on all occasions, while
the troops were carried to their destinations by the
steamers.

A most important expedition was sent up the river
Irrawaddy under the command of Captain Tarleton, on
board the Medusa. He had with him three Company's
steamers. They proceeded to Konnoughee, a short dis-
tance below Proom, where a strong force, which appeared
on shore, was put to flight by the shells thrown from

DFATH OF CAPTAIN LOCH. 363

the vessels. Higher up they found a Burmese army of
10,000 men assembled to guard the passage to Proom
and the capital. The river here divides into two channels,
one of which the Burmese believed to be too shallow for
the passage of the steamers. Captain Tarleton, however,
having ascertained that there was water enough for his
vessels, pushed through it during the night, leaving the
Burmese general and his anny in the rear, and by daylight
came off Proom. As there were no troops to defend the
place, he carried off a number of heavy guns from a battery
at the south end of the town. The iron ones were sunk in
deep water, and the brass taken on board, to the number of
twenty-three. Captain Tarleton had been directed merely
to explore the river, or within four days he might have
appeared before Ava, and in all probability have captured
the city. On his return he was attacked by a large flotilla
of war-boats, forty or fifty of which he either captured or
destroyed. In consequence of his report, a body of troops
was sent up the river on board steamers to Proom, which
was quickly captured. Several other expeditions were
made up the river, most of them under the command of
Captain Granville Loch. Unhappily, he led one on shore
against a robber-chieftain, Mya-Toon, who with other
chiefs of the same character, had been committing depre-
dations in all directions. The party consisted of about 300
men of the 67th Bengal Native Infantry, 62 marines and 185
seamen, with 25 officers. Having landed at Donabew, they
marched inland through a jungle till they reached the rob-
ber's fortress. Before it was an abattis of sharply-pointed
bamboos, the road being so narrow that it was impossible
to deploy the whole strength of the column. Concealed
by their breast-works, the Burmese opened a murderous fire
on the British force. In vain Captain Loch endeavoured
to force his way across the nullah or trench. At length he
fell mortally wounded, while several other officers and a
considerable number of men were killed and wounded.
At length Commander Lambert, on whom the command
devolved, gave the order to his followers to retire. The
two field-pieces they carried with them were spiked,
and the carriages destroyed, and they commenced their

364 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

march back to Donabew, carrying their wounded com-
panions, but they were compelled to leave the dead on the
field. They were bravely covered by the grenadier com-
pany of the 67th, who kept the enemy at a distance till,
almost worn out, after twelve hours' march, they reached
their boats. The gallant Captain Loch expired on board
the Phlegethon about forty hours after he had received his
wound.

This disaster had no effect on the war, and the Burmese
monarch being defeated at all points, agreed to open the
Irrawaddy to British trade, and, shorn of much of his power,
he has since remained at peace with England.

'Battle of iiaatoarfno*

(1827.)

Unhappy Greece had long groaned under the tyranny
of the Turkish yoke, her efforts to throw it off having
proved unavailing, and been crushed by the most bar-
barous cruelty ; when at length, in 1827, England, France,
and Russia combined to emancipate her, the latter influ-
enced by other motives than those of humanity. Vice-
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington was appointed to the
command of the British squadron in the Mediterranean,
and he was directed to mediate between the contending
parties. As he was about to leave England, he received,
as it was said, a hint from the Lord High Admiral how he
was to conduct his negotiations, with the memorable words,
" Go it, Ned !" The French and Russian squadrons, which
afterwards joined him, were placed under his command.
Sir Edward, on inquiring from Sir Stratford Canning how
he was to act, received the following reply : " You are not
to take part with either of the belligerents, but you are to
interpose your forces between them, and to keep the peace
with your speaking trumpet if possible ; but in case of
necessity, with that which is used for the maintenance of a
blockade against friends as well as foes — I mean force ;" and
he further added, " When all other means are exhausted,
by cannon-shot."

The harbour of Navarino is in the form of a horse-shoe,

NAVARINt. 3G5

about six miles in circumference, with an island stretching
across it, the only passage into it being about six hun-
dred yards wide. The Turco-Egyptian army was encamped
on the mainland, close to the fortress of Navarino, while
on the opposite side was a strong fort, mounting 125 guns.
Within this bay the Turkish and Egyptian fleets, consist-
ing of 3 ships of the line, 4 double frigates, and 13 frigates,
and a large number of corvettes, brigs, and other small
craft, besides a number of transports, were at anchor,
drawn up in the form of a crescent. Sir Edward Codring-
ton's flag was on board the Asia, of 80 guns. He had with
him the Genoa and Albion, seventy-fours, the Glasgow, 50,
the Cambrian, 48, the Dartmouth, 46, and the Talbot, 28
guns, besides a corvette, 4 brigs, and the Hind cutter,
tender to the Asia. The French had 4 line-of-battle ships,
a frigate, and 2 corvettes, and the Russians about the same
number. The allied fleet was therefore superior to that of
the Turks, except in point of numbers. The combined
fleet being formed in two columns, the British and French
in the weather or starboard line, and the Russians in the
lee line, entered the harbour. The Asia led, followed by
the Genoa and Albion, and anchored close alongside a ship
of the line, bearing the flag of the Capitan Bey, another
ship of the line, and a large double-banked frigate, each
thus having their opponent in the front line of the Turkish
fleet. The French squadron was directed to attack the
Turks to leeward, and the Russian to fill up the interval,
while the English brigs were to look after six fire-vessels at
the entrance of the harbour. Positive orders were given
that not a shot should be fired unless the Turks set the
example. The first three English ships were permitted to
pass the batteries, and to moor without any act of hostility
taking place. A boat, however, was sent shortly after-
wards from the Dartmouth to request the Turkish fire-
vessels to move farther out of the way, when Lieutenant
Fitzroy and several of her crew were shot at and killed.
On this the Dartmouth and the French admiral's ship
opened a fire of musketry on the Turkish vessel, when one
of the Egyptian ships fired a cannon-shot, which was
immediately answered by the Dartmouth's broadside.

366 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The ships opposed to the Asia, however, did not for some
time fire, and Sir Edward sent a pilot on board the
Egyptian admiral's ship to express his desire of avoiding
bloodshed, when, as he was alongside, he was killed by
some of the Egyptian crew, and soon afterwards his ship
fired into the Asia. The action now became general. The
Turks fought with the greatest bravery, but their ships,
one after the other, were quickly destroyed, several blow-
ing up. Two of the fire-ships were soon in flames, a third
blew up, and a fourth was sunk by the Philomel. A
gallant officer, Lieutenant Maine Lyons, a brother of Sir
Edmund Lyons, afterwards Lord Lyons, belonging to the
Rose corvette, was mortally wounded while endeavouring
to tow a fire-ship in flames clear of the French Armide.
Commodore Bathurst of the Genoa was also mortally
wounded, after having previously been severely hurt by a
splinter soon after the commencement of the action. One
of the Turkish ships fell foul of the Albion, when the crew
of the former attempted to board, but being repulsed, the
Turk was boarded instead by Lieutenant John Drake, who
compelled her crew to cry for quarter. Unhappily, before
he could rescue some Greek prisoners in her hold, she
burst into flames, when he was compelled to retire, and
her cables being cut by one of the Albion's midshipmen,
she drifted clear of that ship and soon afterwards blew up.
Among the many acts of gallantry was one performed by
Lieutenant Robb, in command of the Hind cutter. She
had arrived after the commencement of the action, when
entering the bay she took up a raking position at about
the distance of forty yards across the stern of a large
frigate, and opened a rapid fire. After remaining here for
three quarters of an hour, and receiving the fire of various
smaller vessels, her cable was cut by a shot, and she drifted
between a large corvette and a brig, which she engaged
till the brig blew up. Her last cable being cut, she drifted
into the hottest part of the action, till her main-boom ran
into one of the main-deck ports of a Turkish frigate, the
erew of which made several attempts to board her, but
were repulsed by Lieutenant Robb and his crew. The
Turks after some time sent a large strongly-manned boat

WARFARE IN SYRIA. 367

to attack the cutter. Just as the boat got alongside the
Hind two carronades, charged with grape and canister, fired
into her by the latter, knocked her to pieces. The cutter
after this fortunately drifting clear of the frigate, escaped
the destruction which might have been her fate. Besides
receiving numerous round shot in her hull, she lost a
master's mate and 3 men killed, and a midshipman and
9 men wounded. Every ship in the squadron behaved
well, and was ably supported by the Russians and French.
A small number only of the Turco-Egyptian fleet escaped
destruction, though it was larger than Sir Edward Codring-
ton had at first supposed. The very doubtful advantage
gained by the action was purchased at the heavy loss of 75
killed, including several valuable officers, and 195 wounded,
while the French and Russians together lost still more.
The usual rewards were bestowed on the victors ; though
a new ministry coming in, the action was spoken of in
the royal speech as " that untoward event." However, its
ultimate result undoubtedly was the liberation of Greece
from the Turkish yoke. Another result was the suppres-
sion of the office of Lord High Admiral by the Duke of
Wellington, who, on becoming Prime Minister, requested
the Duke of Clarence to resign, finding that his royal
highness, having a will of his own, was not sufficiently
subservient to the government. To the credit of our
sailor-king, he never exhibited the least ill-feeling in con-
sequence towards the duke for this apparent slight.

COarfare in @>gria toitj) $@a!)omet ait,

Mahomet Ali, who, from a common soldier, had raised
himself to a high command in the Turkish army, having
been sent to Egypt, had deposed the pacha of that province
and slipped into his shoes. Nothing stopped him in his
ambitious career. Finding the Mamelukes troublesome,
he invited about 500, all he could collect, to a feast in the
citadel of Cairo, where, with the .exception of one chief,
who leaped his horse over a high wall and escaped, he
caused the whole band to be massacred. Consolidating

368 POPULAR HISTORY Of THE BRITISH NAV¥.

his power, he made himself independent of the Ottoman
Empire, and began to consider the possibility of mounting
the throne of the caliphs. To effect this object he
assembled a large army, which he sent under his adopted
son, Ibrahim Pacha, into Syria. Ibrahim Pacha, on his
successful march northward, was encouraged, it is supposed,
by the French, when England, with Prussia, Austria, and
Russia, thought it time to interfere. The Turks were
almost helpless. A large army sent against Ibrahim Pacha
had been defeated, and the Turkish fleet had joined that
of the Egyptians. The four powers now sent an ultimatum
to Mahomet Ali, offering him the hereditary sovereignty
of Egypt, and the pachalia of St. Jean d'Acre for life, pro-
vided he would withdraw his troops from Syria, notifying
that if he refused he would be compelled to assent by
force of arms. Mahomet replied that the territories he had
won with the sword he would defend with the sword. An
English fleet was accordingly sent out to the Mediterranean
under the command of Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, who
was joined by some Austrian and Turkish ships, and the
ports of Syria and Egypt were blockaded. Captain Charles
Napier was appointed to the Powerful, as commodore,
with the Ganges, Thunderer, Edinburgh, Castor, and
Gorgon under his command. On fitting out the Powerful
at Portsmouth, he had the following characteristic announce-
ment placarded on the walls : " Wanted active seamen
for the Powerful, Captain Napier. The Powerful is a fine
ship, and in the event of a war will not fail to take her
own part." Captain Napier's character being well known,
the Powerful soon obtained an efficient crew.

The attitude taken up by France was so doubtful that it
was expected that at any moment war might break out,
and the officers of the British squadron were cautioned to
be on their guard against surprise. It was, indeed, the
most exciting time since the last war. While Sir Robert
Stopford was blockading Alexandria, Napier's squadron
anchored off Beyrout on the 12th of August, 1840. At
this time Suleiman Pacha, at the head of 15,000 Egyptian
troops, occupied Beyrout. Ibrahim was at Balbec with
10,000 more; the garrison of Sidon consisted of 3000 men,

BEYROUT BOMBARDED. 369

that in Tripoli of 5000, while between 40,000 and 50,000
Egyptians were scattered through various parts of Syria.
A small Turkish squadron had been fitted out and placed
under the command of Captain Baldwin Walker, who was
known as Walker Bey. After Napier had been employed
some time in examining the coast, Admiral Stopford, who
was commander-in-chief of the land as well as sea forces of
the allies, in consequence of the illness of Lieutenant-Colonel
Sir Charles Smith, appointed him to take the direction of
the military force on shore. This was much to the taste of
Napier, who was as fond of fighting on land as at sea.
Heading the troops on a small pony, in his usual free and
easy dress, he carried all before him, and the Egyptian
troops being put to flight, the mountaineers crowded in
numbers under the standard of the sultan. It was deter-
mined to bombard Beyrout ; the bombardment of Algiers
had shown what could be done against stone walls. A new
power was now introduced into naval warfare — a consider-
able number of steam-ships being among the fleet. They
were the Gorgon, Cyclops, Vesuvius, Hydra, Phoenix, and
Confiance. At that time little confidence was placed in
them as vessels of war, though it was acknowledged that
they might prove useful in towing line-of-battle ships into
action, or in acting as despatch-boats, or as transports for
throwing troops on shore at any particular point.

On the refusal of Suleiman Pacha to yield up Beyrout,
the bombardment commenced, and continued for several
days. In the meantime the Carysfort, Captain Martin,
with the Dido, followed by the Cyclops steamer, with a body
of 220 marines and 150 mountaineers, was despatched to
attack the strong castle of D'jebl, to the northward. The
ships having bombarded the place for an hour, a body of
seaman under Captain Austin, and some marines, under
Captain Robinson, were landed, protected by the fire of the
ships, and proceeded to the assault. They advanced with
their usual gallantry, but when they had got within thirty
yards of the strong and lofty towers, a destructive fire was
opened on them from a crenelated outwork, with a deep
ditch in front. In vain the commanding officers looked for
some part of the castle which might prove practicable ; the

2 A

370 POPULAR H1STOEY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

muzzles of the enemy's muskets were alone visible through
the loop-holes. As the men were falling rapidly without a
prospect of success, it became necessary to draw them off, it
being evident that the place could not betaken until a breach
had been made in the walls, though the immense solidity
of the building prevented much hope of this being done.
As the party were on the point of re-embarking, it was dis-
covered that an English flag, which had been planted on a
garden wall by the pilot of the Cyclops as a signal to the
ships, had been left behind. On this Lieutenant Grenfell,
and M'Donald, a seaman of the Cyclops, undertook to bring
it off, and set out on their hazardous expedition. They
were seen from the decks of the ships, and their object
being understood, were watched with intense anxiety.
Pushing on amid the bullets levelled at them, they reached
the garden wall, seized the flagstaff, and escaping the bullets,
hastened to the shore. Loud cheers greeted them as they
returned on board uninjured with their prize. The next
morning it was found that the garrison had evacuated
the castle. Five marines were killed in the attack, and
eighteen men wounded, including Lieutenant Gifford, KN.,
and Lieutenant Adair, of the marines.

Beyrout still held out in spite of the battering it was
receiving. Suleiman Pacha proved that he was as courteous
as he was brave, for the Indian mail arriving by way of
Bagdad, he ordered a flag of truce to be hoisted, and on a
boat being sent on shore, delivered the mail, with a polite
message, assuring the British that all letters to and from
India should be carefully forwarded. Admiral Stopford
immediately sent in a letter of thanks to the pacha, and
accompanied it with some cases of wine which had been
seized in an Egyptian vessel directed to Suleiman, rightly
conjecturing that it would not prove an unwelcome present.

Firing was then resumed. Information having been
brought by an Egyptian gunner, a deserter, that a train
had been laid along the bridge to the eastern castle, where
a large quantity of powder was concealed, he undertook
to guide a party to cut the train and seize the powder.
Commander Worth, who immediately offered to perform
this dangerous service, was joined by numerous volunteers.

EXPLOITS OF NAPIER ON SHORE. 371

The party embarked in one of the boats of the Hastings,
and, protected by the Edinburgh's launch and .pinnace, as
well as by the fire from the ships, dashed on in face of a
heavy fire of musketry, and landed on the bridge. Having
succeeded in cutting off the train, they forced their way
into the castle, over the walls of which they threw some
sixty or seventy casks of powder, and succeeded in bringing
off upwards of thirty more. In this exploit, unfortunately, a
midshipman of the Hastings, Mr. Luscornbe, was killed, and
the Egyptian guide, with three seamen, were wounded.

Commodore Napier, at the head of his marines and
Turks, had a gallant skirmish on the Kelbson, or Dog
River, when he dispersed the Egyptian forces, and took
between 400 and 500 prisoners. Next day he returned
on board his ship.

While talking with Sir Robert Stopford on the 25th of
September, he remarked that Sidon was not yet in our
possession, and, according to an article in the Malta Times,
said to the admiral, " If you like, I will go down and take it,
and be back in eight and forty hours." He started with the
Thunderer, Cyclops, Gorgon, and Hydra, with 500 marines
and 800 Turks. On his way he fell in with the Stromboli,
from England, with a detachment of 200 marines. These he
took with him, and after firing shot and shell at the town
for a couple of hours, he made a breach and landed at the
head of his men. The struggle was a sharp one, but after
a great number of the enemy, who would neither give nor
receive quarter, had been killed, as well as the Egyptian
commander, who, although the bayonets of two marines were
at his breast, resisted, the Egyptian troops, to the number
of 500, threw down their arms. Fifteen thousand were
afterwards taken. The commodore put himself at the head
of the British marines, and breaking into the barracks, as
soon as Captain Henderson and another party had lodged
themselves in a house above the building, he marched his
battalion along the wall from the upper gate, waving his
hat at the point of his sword, and cheering on his men, and
seized the castle. Among other acts of gallantry must be
mentioned a race which took place from the spot where
they landed, between Mr. James Hunt, a midshJDman of

872 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

the Stromboli, and Senhor Dominica Chinca, a midshipman
of the Austrian frigate Ouerriera, each striving who should
first -plant his colours on the walls of the town. It was
won by the English reefer. Without in any way detract-
ing from Mr. Hunt's gallantry, it is right to state that
Lieutenant Anderson, of the marines, had already planted
a Union Jack nearly on the same spot, but which he had
afterwards carried to a higher part of the town. The
Turkish troops were gallantly led by their colonel, accom-
panied by Walker Bey and Captain Austin, under a heavy
tire, as were the English marines under Captain Whylock
and Lieutenants Anderson and Hockins, the latter, who
had just landed from England, being unfortunately killed.
The Egyptians held out till their leader was killed, when
nearly 2000 laid down their arms. The remainder retired
through the streets, pursued by the attacking parties, and
at length took refuge in a vaulted barrack, where upwards
of a thousand men were found lying down ready for a
sortie. They at once yielded, and thus in five hours from
the commencement of the bombardment, Sidon was cap-
tured. The total loss to the allies and Austrians was 4
killed and 21 wounded, while only 12 Turks were wounded.

At what is called the Battle of Boharsof, Commodore
Napier, with his gallant aides-de-camp, Lieutenants Brad-
ley and Duncan, and Mr. Pearn, master of the Powerful,
at the head of his Turks and marines, attacked Ibrahim
Pacha, posted in the neighbourhood of Mount Lebanon,
among rugged and almost inaccessible rocks. The Egyp-
tians' position was stormed, and Ibrahim's army took to
flight, he, with a few men, escaping, and leaving 600 or
700 prisoners in the hands of the victors. Beyrout, in con-
sequence of this victory, was abandoned, and taken posses-
sion of by the Turks. Thus the gallant old commodore,
in about a month, freed nearly the whole of the Lebanon,
took 500 prisoners, and gained over an equal number of
deserters.

On the 17th of September Caiffa was bombarded and
captured by the Castor and Pique, and a Turkish frigate,
under Captain Collier. By the same ships, in a similar
manner, Tyre was taken on the 24th, without the loss of a

ST. JEAN D'ACRE ATTACKED. 373

man. On the 25th of September Tortosa was attacked
by Captain Houston Stuart, commanding the Benboiu, in
company with the Carysfort and Zebra, he having been
informed that a large quantity of provisions was stored in
the place, and should they be destroyed the troops in the
neighbourhood must evacuate the country, and leave open
the communication with the mountains, whose inhabitants
were anxious to join the Turks. Unfortunately, when the
boats were sent on shore to storm the place, it was found
that a reef of rocks, or a sunken mole, would allow only the
smaller ones to reach the beach. A gallant party, under
Lieutenants Charlwood and Maitland, with scarcely thirty
men, were able to get on shore, and both they and the
larger boats were exposed to a heavy fire of musketry from
numerous loopholes and crevices from the fortress. Lieu-
tenant Charlwood having broken open several stores, which
he in vain attempted to set on fire, the ammunition of the
marines, who had followed Lieutenant Maitland, being wet,
they were ordered by Captain Stuart to retire. In this
disastrous affair 5 were killed and 17 wounded.

The celebrated fortress of St. Jean d'Acre, which, when
held by Sir Sidney Smith, had resisted the arms of
Napoleon, had been captured by Ibrahim Pacha in 1837,
and still held out. Sir Robert Stopford having received
orders to attack it, the ships of the allied fleet proceeded
thither, and arrived off it on the 2nd of November. They
consisted of the Princess Charlotte, of 104 guns, the
Powerful and Thunderer, 84, Bellerophon, 80, Revenge,
76, Beribow and Edinburgh, 72, Cantor, frigate, 36, and
the Carysfort, 26, the Gorgon, Phoenix, Stromboli, and
Vesuvius, steam-frigates,, and the Austrian flag-ship, an
Austrian frigate and corvette, and the Turkish flag-ship,
an 84. Rear- Admiral Walker — the Pique and Talbot
frigates, the Hasard, 18-gun sloop, and the Wasp, 16-gun
brig — had been there for some days. The fortress of Acre
stands on a point of land, thus presenting two sides to the
sea, one facing the east, and the other the south-east. In
consequence of this, it was necessary that the squadron
should attack in two divisions. Sir Robert Stopford went
on board the PHosnix to superintend the attack, Napier

S74 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

led the way in the Powerful to the northward, closely
followed by the Princess Charlotte, Thunderer, Better option,
and Pique, while Captain Collier, of the Castor, commanded
on the south. The Powerful, followed by the other ships,
having got round a shoal which lies off the city, bore up
and ran along shore towards the north angle, anchoring
about 700 yards distant from the sea wall, considerably
inside the buoys which had been laid down to assist the
ships in taking up their stations. As the ships successively
brought up, they opened a tremendous fire on the batteries
and sea wall, where the shot was so well directed that it
would have been almost impossible for any human beings
to have stood their ground. The Egyptians, supposing
that the ships would anchor close to the buoys, had pointed
their guns too high ; consequently most of their shot flew
over the decks of the ships, wounding chiefly the rigging and
spars, while the clouds of smoke which immediately enve-
loped the fleet prevented them from remedying their
mistake. The Revenge had been ordered to keep under
way as a reserve, but Napier signalled to her to take up a
position ahead of him, to attack a heavy battery of five
guns. This Captain Waldegrave did in gallant style.

In the meantime Captain Collier's squadron were
engaging the batteries on the south, well supported by the
Austrians, and Admiral Walker, who, running inside all
the squadron, took up a warm berth abreast of a new and
strong work. The steamers were not idle, as they kept up
a hot fire of shot and shell, doing much execution. While
the fleet were thus engaged, an incessant roar show-
ing the rapidity of the firing, and clouds of smoke fill-
ing the air, a thundering sound was heard — for an
instant the whole fortress was illumined with an intense
blaze of light, which was as suddenly succeeded by a
dense cloud of smoke, dust, bursting shells, and large
fragments of stone hurled upwards and in every direction.
The principal magazine, containing many thousand barrels of
gunpowder, had exploded, in consequence, as was supposed, of
a shell having been thrown into it by one of the steam-ships.
A large number of the garrison were blown up by the ex-
plosion,and manymore probably were buried amid the ruins

FALL OF ACRE. 375

Notwithstanding this catastrophe, the five guns opposed to
the Revenge continued their fire, and kept it up to the
last. About sunset the signal was made to discontinue
the engagement, but Napier fired away for some time
after dusk, lest the enemy should be tempted to re-man
their guns. At length the admiral's flag-lieutenant brought
an order for the ships to withdraw. The Revenge, slipping
her anchor, made sail without difficulty. The Princess
Charlotte picked up both hers and made sail, but, casting
the wrong way, nearly got on shore. She was, however,
conducted in a most seamanlike manner, not a word being
heard on board her. The Powerful was towed out by
the Gorgon. The Thunderer and Bellerophon, as also
the southern squadron, remained at anchor.

During the night a boat brought off information that
the Egyptian troops were leaving the town, and, in conse-
quence, at daylight, 300 Turks and a party of Austrian
marines landed and took unopposed possession of it. The
casualties of the allies amounted to only 14 English and 14
Turks killed, and 42 wounded. Notwithstanding the long
continued fire to which the ships had been exposed, they
escaped with slight damage. The havoc caused by the
bombardment on the walls and houses was very great,
while it was calculated that the explosion had destroyed
between one and two thousand persons, two entire regi-
ments being annihilated, with a number of animals. On
the 4th another explosion took place, by which a marine
was killed, and Captain Collier had his leg fractured.

This was the first occasion on which the advantages of
steam had been fully proved in battle, by the rapidity
with which the steamers took up their positions, and the
assistance they rendered to the other ships, as also by the
destruction the shells thrown from them produced. The
survivors of the garrison, amounting to 3000, were taken
prisoners, while nearly 200 guns and mortars and field-
pieces were captured. Ibrahim's army, which in Septem-
ber had amounted to 75,000 men, had now dwindled to
20,000, who, hard-pressed, were making their way back to
Egypt. On the fall of Acre, Napier proceeded to Alexan-
dria, where he entered into a convention with Mahomet

376 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Ali, who agreed to evacuate Syria and to restore the
Turkish fleet as soon as he had received final notification
that the sultan would grant him the hereditary govern-
ment of Egypt, which, the Turkish fleet being given up,
the sultan soon afterwards did. On the return of the
Powerful to the fleet, before proceeding to Malta, the
ships manned the rigging and cheered, the bands playing
" Charlie is my darling."

This terminated the duties of the fleet on the coast of
Syria.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Jfirst Ww iottjy C^ma, anb Efforts
suppress the Slab* Crab*.

(A.D. 1840.)

; HE Chinese had long designated the English,
as well as all other Europeans, the "outer-
barbarians," and treated them in the most
insulting manner. At length the Chinese
government, finding that silver alone was
given in exchange for opium, was afraid that the country
would be drained of that precious metal, and resolved to put
a stop to the importation of the drug. Commissioner Lin
was sent to Canton for that purpose,and, to prove that he was
in earnest, he ordered the first Chinese opium smuggler he
could catch to be strangled, shut up the British merchants
in their factories, and then demanded the delivery of all
the opium ships in the river. At the same time the
British flag was fired on, British ships were detained, and
a Chinaman having been accidentally killed by a British
seaman, the life of a British subject was demanded in
return. Captain Elliott, R.N., acting at that time as chief
superintendent of trade, immediately sent home an account
of the state of affairs, summing up altogether a long list
of complaints against the Chinese. On receipt of the news
a squadron was sent out of 3 seventy-fours, 2 forty-
fours, 3 38-gun frigates, and several sloops of war and
brigs, which, on their arrival, were joined by 4 of the
East India Company's armed steamers, and to meet them
on their arrival about 4000 troops were despatched from
India, Before this the Volage and Hyacinth, while lying

377

378 POPULAK HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

in Canton River, had a sharp engagement with a fleet of
war-junks, under the Chinese Admiral Kwang. Gallantly
as Kwang behaved, in a short time one of his junks blew
up, three sank, several were shattered and deserted by
their crews, and the remainder fled in the greatest con-
fusion, Kwang's junk being in a sinking condition. Cap-
tain Smith, not wishing to cause any unnecessary blood-
shed, retired with his ships to Macao, where he embarked
a number of British residents. Kwang, in consequence,
boasted that he had gained a great victory, and was
covered with honours, his countrymen being encouraged to
persevere in the contest. ' The Chinese also issued a
proclamation offering 20,000 Spanish dollars to any one
who would capture an English 80-gun ship, and 5000
dollars to the man who took alive a foreign mandarin or
captain, and so on in proportion to the rank of the
captives ; while a third of the sum was to be paid for kill-
ing them. The Chinese, determined to resist, prepared
fire-ships, exercised their troops, and got up sham fights,
dressing some of their men in red clothes, who were
always soundly beaten, to teach the Celestials to conquer
the barbarian English. They had likewise purchased the
Cambridge, an old East Indiaman, of 900 tons, and armed
her with thirty-four guns, and had built some curious craft
with paddle-wheels, in imitation of English steamers. It
was said even that they had funnels, with fires below them
to create a smoke, in order to deceive the barbarians.
They also threw up forts along the banks of their rivers,
sometimes facing them with thin boards or canvas, painted
to look like stone, in order to frighten their invaders.

A considerable squadron, under the command of Rear-
Admiral Elliott, in the Melville, 74, now arrived. When
at Singapore, Captain Maitland had drilled 350 of her sea-
men to act as light-infantry troops, and had brought them
into an admirable state of efficiency. While one part of the
fleet blockaded the mouth of the Canton River, the re-
mainder proceeded to the northward to look into different
harbours. On her way the Blonde came off Amoa, near
which she observed batteries thrown up, and in a short
time a number of large armed junks came down as if to

CHUSAN ATTACKED. 379

attack her. On a boat being sent on sbore with a flag of
truce, she was fired on by the Chinese. On this the
Blonde opened her broadsides, soon knocked the forts
to pieces, and compelled the war-junks to run up the
harbour.

The Wellesley, with a part of the squadron, then ap-

A CHINESE JUNK.

peared off Chusan. Commodore Bremer was in hopes
that his overwhelming force would induce the Chinese to
yield, but their fleet was commanded by a tough old
admiral, who, ignorant of the power of the English, had
BO intention of doing so without a fight. During the

380 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

night the Chinese were seen by the light of thousands of
painted lanterns throwing up embankments, and placing
fresh guns in position, while numberless merchant-junks,
loaded with goods, women, and children, were observed
making their way down the river to escape. After giving
the Chinese several opportunities of negotiating for peace,
the Wellesley opened her fire. It was answered by the
whole of the Chinese line of defence. The rest of the
fleet than began bombarding the place, and in seven or
eight minutes it was reduced to ruins. On the smoke
clearing away, the principal battery was seen to be
knocked to pieces, as were four war-junks, a few wounded
men only being visible, among whom was the brave old
admiral, who had lost his leg from a round-shot. On the
troops being landed, possession was taken of the aban-
doned fortifications, and the British flag floated on the
first military position in the Chinese Empire captured by
her majesty's forces. An inner fortress was, however, dis-
covered, from which the Chinese soldiers which crowded
it, opened their fire, beating their tom-toms and gongs,
waving banners, and beckoning the English to attack.
A few shells having been thrown into it, the Chinese
evacuated the place during the night, and with many of
the inhabitants fled into the country. Several persons
were found to have been killed, and the governor of the
town drowned himself in despair. Chusan was held for
some months, at the cost of the lives of many of the
soldiers, who suffered from the poisonous exhalations from
the paddy-fields, having nothing to do to employ their
minds ; while the seamen of the Melville, which had been
hove down for repairs, kept their health during the six
weeks they were employed on her. The squadron got
as far north as the great wall of China. On the passage
the Pylades corvette, Captain Anson, fell in with three
junks. As his boats ranged up alongside of them, up-
wards of 100 men, who had been concealed, started up
and commenced firing and hurling spears and stink-pots
on the crews. On this the British shoved off to a short
distance, arid pouring in some well-directed volleys, killed
half the pirates, the remainder jumping overboard

THE " NEMESIS." 381

making for the shore — though many were drowned. The
other two junks escaped.

One of the favourite exploits of the Chinese was to
kidnap tr e English. A Madras officer of artillery, Captain
Anstruther, had been carried off while taking a survey
near Chusan. The crew of a merchant-vessel, the Kite,
wrecked on the coast, and Mrs. Noble, the captain's wife,
were also captured. Near Macao a Mr. Staunton had
been been carried away, on which Captain Smith, then
the senior officer on the station, sent to demand his
release. It being refused, and the Chinese being observed
strengthening the barrier which runs across the isthmus,
joining Macao to the mainland, he considered it probable
that the enemy would attack the city. Taking, therefore,
the Larne and Hyacinth, with the Enterprise steamer
and Louisa cutter, he ran up close to the barrier and
opened so warm a cannonade on the Chinese works and
barracks, that the enemy's fire was silenced in about an
hour. Some blue-jacket small-arm men and soldiers
being then disembarked, they drove the Chinese from
every one of their positions, spiked the guns, and burnt
the barracks and other buildings. This was the last
hostile proceeding of the British in the year 1840. The
Chinese, wishing to gain time, induced Admiral Elliott
to agree to a truce, shortly after which he resigned com-
mand from ill-health, and returned to England, leaving
Sir Gordon Bremer as commander-in-chief. At the com-
mencement of 1841 the squadron was further increased
by the arrival of the Nemesis steamer, commanded by Mr.
W. H. Hall, then a master in the navy, and the Sulphur,
Commander Belcher. The Nemesis, though not com-
missioned under the articles of war, most of her officers
were in the Royal Navy ; but she belonged to the East
India Company. She was built by Mr. Laird at Birken-
head, and although of about 630 tons burden, with engines
of 120 horse-power, with all her armament complete,
she drew only 6 feet of water. Her extreme length was
184 feet, her breadth 29 feet, and her depth 11 feet. She
had no fixed keel, and was almost perfectly flat-bottomed.
She had, however, two sliding or movable keels, made of

382 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

wood, each about 7 feet in length, one being placed before
and the other abaft the engine-room, and, being enclosed
in narrow cases reaching to the deck, they could be raised
or lowered at will by means of a winch. With the excep-
tion of the great paddle-beams across the ship, the planks
of the deck, and the cabin fittings, with a few other por-
tions, she was built entirely of iron. As, from her form,
she could not have been steered by an ordinary rudder,
a movable rudder was attached to the lower part of the
true or fixed rudder, descending to the same depth as the
two false keels, and, like them, could be raised or lowered
at pleasure. Another striking peculiarity of her con-
struction was that she was divided into seven water-tight
compartments by means of iron bulkheads, so that, in fact,
she resembled a number of iron tanks cased over, a contri-
vance which saved her from the almost certain destruction
which would otherwise have been her lot. By some cleverly-
contrived lee-boards her lee-way, under sail, was reduced
fully one-half. It was found, however, that the want of a
fixed keel was a great detriment to her seaworthy qualities.

After a voyage, during which she encountered many
dangers, she arrived safely in China, the first iron steamer
which had ever performed so long a voyage. From her
shallow draft of water she was enabled to play a conspicuous
part in most of the operations in the Chinese seas.

Finding that the Chinese, though carrying on negotia-
tions, were making strenuous preparations for war, Sir
Gordon Bremer resolved to attack Canton. The entrance
of the Canton River is called the Boca Tigris, on either
side of which were lines of defences known as the Bogue
Forts, supposed to be of great strength. These it was
necessary to silence. The marines and other troops were
sent on shore to assault the fort of Chuenpee, on the land
side, while the ships battered it from the sea. The fort
having been attacked by the troops, many of the Chinese
were shot, and a large number, not aware that quarter
would be granted, threw themselves from the battlements.
Fort Tykocktow, on the opposite side of the river, was at
the same time attacked by the Samarang, with three
other vessels, and a breach being effected, the boats of the

ATTACK ON THE BOGUE FORTS. 383

squadron, with a body of seamen, were sent on shore, who
soon mastered the place. On the Chuenpee side was
Anson's Bay, at the entrance of a small river, here
protected by an island at its mouth. A Chinese fleet of
about 15 war-junks lay moored in shoal water, under the
command of Admiral Kwang. The Nemesis, with the
boats of several other ships, was joined by Captain Belcher,
of the Sulphur, with two of his ship's boats, and by Lieu-
tenant Kellett, of the Starling, while the Nemesis soon got
close enough to bring her 32-pounder pivot-guns to bear ;
and at the same time one of the Lames boats, under
Lieutenant Harrison, made her way outside the island to cut
off the junks in the rear. The first Congreve rocket fired
from the Nemesis having entered a large junk near that of
the admiral, she almost immediately blew up, pouring forth
a blaze like the rush of fire from a volcano, and destroying
all on board. This so terrified the Chinese that, after a
few discharges of round shot had been fired into other
junks, the crews of many jumped overboard, while others
cut their cables in the hopes of escaping on shore. Some
were immediately captured, others escaped up the river,
pursued by the Nemesis, which succeeded in bringing one
down and burning another which had grounded.

The next day Admiral Kwang sent off a boat with a flag
of truce, in which were an old man and woman, bearing
proposals for the cessation of hostilities. They came to
request Captain Elliott to meet Commissioner Keshen, who
finally agreed that the island of Hong-Kong should be
ceded to the British, on condition that the Bogue Forts
should be given up, and that, on the English captives being-
set at liberty, Chusan should be evacuated. To these terms
Captain Elliott, the superintendent of trade, agreed, and
Hong-Kong was taken possession of on the 26th of January.
These terms having been rejected by the emperor, the fleet
proceeded, on the 26th of February, to the attack of the
remainder of the Bogue Forts. Their defenders were either
put to flight or yielded themselves prisoners, and in a short
time the British colours were flying on the whole chain of
those celebrated works. The next day, the 27th, the light
squadron, consisting of the Calliope and Herald, and the

384 POPULAR HISTORY Of THE BRITISH NAVY.

Alligator, Sulphur, Modeste, Madagascar, and Nemesis
steamers, under Captain Herbert, were sent up to destroy
any fortifications they might meet with. On reaching
Whampoa Roads, a large armed fort, mounting 47 guns,
was seen on the left bank, and extending across the river
was a line of rafts secured to sunken junks, on the other
side of which were forty large junks and the Cambridge,
carrying the admiral's flag. The steamer pushing on,
opened a heavy fire on the Chinese fleet, as well as on the
batteries. For about an hour the Chinese held out, and
when their fire was nearly silenced, the marines and small-
arm men being landed, stormed the works, driving before
them upwards of 2000 Chinese troops, and killing nearly
300. The Cambridge and some of the junks still held out,
when Lieutenant Watson, first of the Calliope, having gal-
lantly succeeded in dragging one of the boats across the raft,
launched her on the other side. As soon as she was in the
water, Mr. Brown, master of the Calliope, Mr. Hall and
Mr. Galbraith, of the Nemesis, and Mr. St. Leger, got
into her with nine or ten men, and pulled away for the
Cambridge. So confused were the Chinese that, as the
boarding party climbed up on the port side, they jumped
overboard on the other, and many were drowned in attempt-
ing to swim on shore. A number of dead and wounded
were found on her decks. As she was an old ship, she was
doomed to destruction, and the wounded being removed,
she was set on fire, and soon afterwards blew up with a
terrific explosion, the sound of which must have reached
Canton. Numerous other forts were destroyed in succession,
as were also a considerable number of junks. The steamers
had many difficulties to encounter, as thick stockades had
been placed' across the channel, through which they had
to force their way. At length the squadron came to an
anchor off Whampoa, when the Nemesis was despatched
with a letter to the Chinese authorities. Captain Bethune
having undertaken to deliver it, pushed off in a boat with
a white flag, when a shower of grape and shot was dis-
charged on her from a fort. In consequence of this the
ships pushed on to Canton, and opened a hot fire on the
batteries which protect the city. After the bombardment

CANTON TAKEN* S85

had continued about an hour, the marines were landed,
immediately stormed, and completed the capture of the
enemy's works, notwithstanding a determined resistance on
the part of the Tartars. Captain Bourchier, in command of
the blue-jackets on shore, prevented any outbreak of the
population, and he observing a number of burning junks
drifting down on the suburbs, to which they would inevitably
have set fire, by the most energetic exertions of his officers
and men towed them away from the spot. The Herald
getting up later in the day, by her imposing appearance
contributed to bring the Chinese to reason, and in a short
time the British colours were hoisted on the flag-staff of the
factory by Commander Belcher. Thus one of the most
important cities of China fell into the hands of the British,
with a loss of only seven men wounded.

A truce was now agreed to, and trade was again opened,
but the Chinese very soon began to rebuild their fortifica-
tions, and to fit out junks and fire-rafts. The main body
of the fleet having retired, a small squadron remained in
the neighbourhood of Canton. The night of the 21st of
May was unusually dark ; a sharp look-out was therefore
kept, the officers lying down in their cloaks on the decks
of the ships, ready for service. The Modesto being a little
in advance, one of her sentries observed several dark-
looking masses dropping down with the stream. On his
hailing, they were immediately set on fire by the Chinese,
and the flames bursting forth, pointed out the danger to
the other vessels. In nine minutes the Nemesis had her
steam up, and was running towards the fire-rafts to assist
the boats in towing them away. These rafts were formed
of boats chained together, so that, drifting down with the
stream, they might hang across the bows of the ships, from
which they would with much difficulty have been cleared.
The Chinese batteries at the same time opened on the
squadron, which of course fired in return, while the small-
arm men picked off the people on the fire-rafts. In the
morning the Shameen battery was taken, and 43 war-junks
and 32 fire-rafts were destroyed. During these operations
a Congreve rocket, which had been placed in a tube and
ignited, hung within it instead of flying out. In another

S86 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

moment it would have burst, scattering destruction around,
when Mr. Hall thrust his arm into the tube and forced it
out from behind. The rush of fire, however, severely burnt
his hand, and caused him much suffering. Several other
attempts to destroy the squadron by fire-ships were
defeated by the vigilance of the officers and crews. On
one occasion, the Wellesley, anchored at the Bogue, was
attacked by 20 fire-vessels, filled with gunpowder and
a variety of combustibles, and chained in twos and threes.
Captain Maitland was absent with most of her boats and
a large number of her crew and officers, and it was not
without great exertion that Commander Fletcher, who had
only three boats left on board, was able to tow them clear
of the ship.

As it was evident that the Chinese still intended to hold
out, the fleet proceeded to attack Canton. The troops
and the blue-jackets, who had been landed quickly,
stormed the outer defences, while the smaller vessels of
the squadron bombarded the batteries on the river-front
of the city. The Chinese again made use of fire-vessels,
but as they drove down rapidly towards the fleet, the boats
pushing off, towed them clear and carried them 011 shore,
when they set fire to the suburbs. Several naval officers
lost their lives, and others were wounded. Lieutenant
Fox and Mr. Kendall, mate, both of the Nimrod, each lost
a leg; and Mr. Fitzgeorge, mate of the Modeste, was killed.
Lieutenant Fox died the same evening.

In the course of three days the whole of the fortifica-
tions of Canton were in the power of the British, and
though the city contained an immense army, flags of truce,
were waved from the walls, and the Tartar generals camex'
alongside humbly suing for peace, and offering six millions
of dollars for the ransom of the city. This sum was
accepted, and sent on board the ships of war, when 18,000
Tartars marched out of Canton. Many officers and men
suffered from the fatigues they underwent, and Sir Hum-
phrey Le Fleming Senhouse died in consequence of the
exertions to which he had been exposed.

The fleet now proceeding northward, on the 26th of
August captured Amoy, a place of considerable importance,

CHAPOO ATTACKED. 38?

about 300 miles north of Hong-Kong. The Chinese
fought with more courage and stubbornness- than usual,
but were driven out of their fortifications by the ships,
when the troops, the blue-jackets as usual playing their
part, stormed and carried the place. Chusan, which had
been given up to the Chinese, was next recaptured, after
which Chinghai, a strong place situated at the mouth of
the Takia River, was attacked. It was surrounded by a wall
2 miles in circumference, 37 feet thick, and 22 feet high,
mounted by 69 heavy guns and numberless jingalls. A
lofty and precipitous hill, with a citadel on the summit,
commanded the town ; stockades had been driven into the
water in front of all the batteries and landing-places, and
an army of 10,000 men lay encamped, with numerous
guns, a short distance from the bank of the river. The
ships approached till they touched the ground, when they
opened their fire, and a breach was soon effected in the
citadel. On this it was stormed by the blue-jackets and
marines, when the garrison effected their escape into the
city, the walls of which were then scaled in two places,
and Chinghai was captured. Ningpo, higher up the river,
was taken with even less difficulty. A desperate attempt
was afterwards made to recapture the latter place, but the
Chinese were repulsed with dreadful slaughter; while
another attempt to burn the ships of war by fire-vessels
was also defeated. Not less than 50 or 60 fire-rafts were
seen coming down together, burning furiously, but the
boats of the ships were ready, and grappling them bravely,
towed them clear of the fleet.

Still, as the Chinese showed no readiness to come to
terms, another town, which lies on the opposite side of the
bay in which Chinghai is situated, called Chapoo, was
attacked. Sir William Parker landed with a battalion of
seamen and marines under Captain Bourchier, while the
troops, headed by Sir Hugh Gough, drove the enemy
before them. A large body of Tartars had thrown them-
selves into a building of considerable strength, and in
attempting to enter it, Colonel Tomlinson, of the 18th, and
a number of his men were killed. Mr. Hall, Lieutenant
Fitzjames, and other naval officers made several gallant

388 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

attempts to force their way in. At length the gate was
blown open by a powder-bag ; many of the defenders were
destroyed, and fifty captured. The loss of the British was
considerable. The Chinese wounded received great atten-
tion from the British medical officers ; a conduct appre-
ciated by the governor of Chapoo, who thanked the admiral
and general, and when some English fell into the hands of
the Chinese, they in return were treated with every kind-
ness.

Before the expedition left Chapoo, all the Chinese prisoners
were set at liberty, each man receiving three dollars ; when
the Chinese, not to be out-done in liberality, restored all
the persons they had kidnapped, giving thirty dollars to
each white man and fifteen to each native of India.

As the numerous places which had hitherto been taken
were at a distance from the capital, the emperor still hoped
that he might set the British at defiance. It was deter-
mined, therefore, to attack Nankin itself, the second city in
the empire, situated about 200 miles up the great river
Yang'tse Kiang, or Yellow River. The difficulties of the
navigation' had hitherto been considered an insuperable
obstacle; although the river is of great size, the current
runs with prodigious force, and there are numerous shoals
and rocks in its course. The river, however, was surveyed
by Commanders Kellett and Collinson, and as they reported
that water for the largest ships was found right up to
Nankin, the admiral undertook to carry the whole of the fieet
up to the walls of that city. Woosung and Shanghai, situated
on the ban£s of a river which falls into the sea at the
entrance of the Yang'tse Kiang, were first captured, and on
the 6th of July, 1842, a fleet of nearly 80 sail, including
among them the Cornwallis, of 72 guns, Sir William
Parker's flag-ship, in five divisions, sailed up the mighty
stream on their voyage of 200 miles into the very heart of
China. Before reaching Nankin they came off the large
city of Chin Keang Foo, near which passes the great canal
of China. It was captured on the 20th by the troops,
aided by a body of seamen and marines under Captain
Peter Richards, who scaled the walls on one side while the
soldiers got over on another. The Tartars fought with the

THE FLEET REACHES NANKIN. 380

most determined bravery, holding every house and street,
resolved to sell their lives dearly. Frequently, on being
defeated, they put an end to themselves, and often destroyed
their wives and children. Lieutenant Fitzjames distin-
guished himself in the attack, having , brought up some
rockets which, fired among the enemy, threw them into
confusion. The gate of the city was just then blown open
by powder bags, when Sir Hugh Gough, who was with the
third brigade, accompanied by Sir William Parker, dashed
over the ruins. They wore met, after fighting their way
for some distance, by a sudden fire from a body of Tartars,
when Lieutenant Fitzjames and several men were wounded.
The British, however, uttering a loud cheer, attacked the
Tartars with such fury that they were soon put to flight,
when numbers fell by their own hands. The British were
speedily in entire possession of the city. Every means was
taken to spare life, to prevent plunder, and to restore order.
During these operations several vessels of the fleet were
employed in blockading the mouths of the great canal, in
capturing all the trading junks which came in sight, and in
preventing provisions being carried to the city. Still, it was
necessary in order to bring the emperor to reason, for the
fleet to appear before the walls of Nankin. Having been
detained by contrary winds, it was not till the 4th of August
that the ships could get up, carrying 4500 troops, besides
marines and blue-jackets. The CornwaUis and Blonde
then took up their positions within one thousand paces of
the Ifung Gate of Nankin, and every arrangement was
made for the troops to attack the city. Before the British
proceeded to extremities, the emperor having been informed
the true state of affairs, authorised his commissioner to
treat for peace, and on the 29th of August the treaty for
which the British had been so long contending was signed
on board the CornwaUis. Among other clauses, China
agreed to pay twenty-one millions of dollars; Canton, Amoa,
Choo-Choo-Foo, Ningpo, and Shanghai, were thrown open
to British commerce, Hong-Kong was ceded in perpetuity
to Her Britannic Majesty ; all British subjects imprisoned
in China were to be released, and correspondence was in
future to be conducted on terms of perfect equality between

390 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the officers of both governments. Thus the war in which
the navy of England had played so conspicuous a part was
terminated. Its greatest achievement, however, was the
passage of the fleet 200 miles up the river, and its return
without the loss of a single vessel. This, however, could not
have been effected without steamers, which, besides towing
the sailing ships, performed important parts in all the
operations of the war. Among those who especially dis-
tinguished themselves by their activity were Commander
Belcher, afterwards Sir Edward Belcher, Mr. Hall, of the
Nemesis, who was deservedly made a lieutenant and com-
mander, and is now Admiral Sir W. H. Hall, Commanders
Kellett, Collinson, and Fitzjames, well known as Arctic
explorers, Lieutenant M'Cleverty, and the bravest among
the brave, Captain Loch, who fell in Burmah.

Destruction of ipirateg in tfje Jnfcian anD
Clnna

For many years the pirates of the Eastern Archipelago
and China seas had committed depredations on the com-
merce of the more peaceably-disposed people of that part
of the world, and had frequently attacked merchant-vessels
belonging to the English, as well as those of other nations,
generally treating the prisoners they captured with the
greatest barbarity. So audacious had they become that
in 1836 the Governor-General of India determined to put
an end to their proceedings, and Captain Chads, of the
Andromache frigate, was sent into those seas to destroy as
many piratical fleets and strongholds as he could fall in
with. The pirate proas are vessels of considerable size,
upwards of 60 feet in length and 12 in beam; though, as
they draw scarcely four feet of water, they can run up into
shallow rivers and escape. Each proa carried about 80
men, with a 12-pounder in the bows, 3 or 4 smaller pivot-
guns, besides jingalls, stink-pots, spears, and the murderous
kris which each man wore at his side. The crew in action
were protected by abulwark four or five feethigh, thick enough

OPERATIONS AGAINST THE PIRATES OF BORNEO. 391

to withstand musket-balls and grape-shot. They sailed in
fleets of twenty or thirty vessels together, and were thus
more than a match for any British merchantman, even
though well-armed, they were likely to fall in with. The
boats of the frigate, however, pursued them into their
strongholds, and piracy in the neighbourhood of the Malay
peninsula was for a time put a stop to. It existed, how-
ever, to a far greater degree in other parts of the Eastern
seas, and it was not till 1843, that Rajah Brooke had
established himself at Sarawak, on the western side of
Borneo, that far more strenuous efforts than heretofore
were employed against those pests of commerce. Several
of the ships of war which had been engaged in the opera-
tions against China, on the conclusion of peace, were
despatched to the assistance of Rajah Brooke in his noble
and philanthropic object. Among the officers employed in
the service were the Honourable Captain Keppel, of the
Dido frigate, Sir Edward Belcher, of the Samarang, Cap-
tain Nicholas Vansittart, of the Magician, Captain Edward
Vansittart, of the Bittern, Commander Fellowes, of the
Rattler, Captain Mundy, of the Iris, besides many others.
The Nemesis and Phlegethon, which had been so actively
engaged in China, were sent with other steamers belonging
to the East India Company. Sir Thomas Cochrane, com-
mander-in-chief on the Indian station, also visited Borneo
in his flag-ship the Agincourt, to superintend the opera-
tions which were now energetically pursued for the destruc-
tion of the pirates. There is no space to give more than
an example of the sort of service in which the smaller
vessels and the boats of the squadron were chiefly engaged
against the common enemy.

The chief of a piratical band, Sherif Osman, had en-
trenched himself in a strong position on the banks of the
River Songibusar, which falls into the bay of Malludu, near
Labuan, in Borneo ; and as it was of the greatest import-
ance to destroy him, an expedition, under the command of
Captain Talbot, was sent up the river for that purpose. It
consisted of the Vixen, Nemesis, and Pluto steamers, and
the boats of the Agincourt, Daedalus, Vestal, Cruiser, and
Wolverine, several of them carrying guns in their bows,

392 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and another furnished with rockets. Altogether, the force
consisted of 350 blue-jackets and above 200 marines.
After working his way up the river, Captain Talbot came
in sight of the enemy posted in two forts, mounting about
twelve guns, and protected by a strong and well-contrived
boom. Before the fight commenced, Sherif Osman sent a
flag of truce begging to confer with Rajah Brooke, and
hearing that he was not present, he invited Captain Talbot
to meet him, offering to admit two gigs to be hauled over
the boom. This being declined, the enemy opened their
fire. Before the boats could advance, it was necessary to
cut away the boom. While thus employed, axe in hand, a
gallant young officer, Gibbard, of the Wolverine, fell
mortally wounded. All the time the boats were under a
heavy fire, to which they replied with their guns. The
boom was fastened to the chain cable of a vessel of three
or four hundred tons. It was at length cut through, when
the marines and small-arm men landing, carried the place
after a desperate resistance, with a loss of 6 killed, 2 mor-
tally wounded, and 15 severely wounded. The loss of the
enemy was proportionably great. Sherif Osman was
wounded dangerously, and though he managed to get off,
it was supposed that he soon afterwards died in the jungle.
In the forts were discovered numerous evidences of the
piratical character of the defenders ; several chain cables,
two ships' bells, a ship's long-boat, and ships' furniture of
various descriptions. Some piratical Illanun and Bala-
gnini boats were burnt, and twenty-four brass guns and
several iron ones captured. Thus this piratical nest was
completely destroyed.

In the year 1846, several chiefs friendly to the English
and opposed to piracy having been cruelly murdered by
the Sultan of Brune, Sir Thomas Cochrane determined to
destroy his city. There being sufficient water over the bar
of the river, the Agincourt, towed by the Spiteful steamer,
entered it and anchored within Moarra Island. The
smaller vessels being lightened, proceeded up the river,
carrying a force of 200 marines and 600 blue-jackets armed
as light infantry, accompanied by the boats of the squadron
towed by the' steamers. On turning an angle of the river

PIRATICAL STRONGHOLD OF BRUN^ DESTROYED. 393

four batteries were seen, two of which were directly ahead,
while the stream was staked across. As the squadron was
making its way through the piles, the enemy's fire opened
at a distance of 1000 yards. The round and grape passed
between the masts of the Phlegethon and beyond the
Spiteful, without striking. The guns having been pointed
at the stakes, the Phlegethon immediately returned the
compliment with rockets and her pivot-guns. After an
hour's cannonade, Captain Mundy shoved off in the gun-
boats, Lieutenant Patey being ordered to pull for the shore
and to storm the batteries which were erected on a preci-
pice nearly a hundred feet in height from the bank of the
river.. So heavy, however, had been the fire from the
steamer and gunboats that the resolution of the enemy
failed them, and the gallant crews forced their way through
the embrasures. In capturing the enemy's flag a skirmish
took place between their rear-guard and the leading party
of the British, while the former were endeavouring to
escape into the jungle. Three handsome brass guns were
carried off, the iron guns were spiked, and the maga-
zines destroyed. The steamer then taking the Royalist
and gunboats in tow, passed two other batteries and
anchored half-a-mile below the city, when all hands went
to dinner. At half-past one the expedition was again in
motion, working up against an ebb tide of three knots.
As the Phlegethon opened round the point, the city battery
and hill -forts mounting 18 guns, commenced firing, and
two men were killed and several wounded on board the
Phlegethon. She, however, opened a hot fire, and Captain
Mundy shoving off in the gunboats, attacked the batteries
at close quarters ; but before he could reach them, the
enemy fled. Nine shot had entered the Phlegethon s side
below the water-line ; and had she not been divided into
compartments, she would inevitably have sunk. The
marines were now landed and occupied the heights above
the sultan's palace, the batteries on which had been
silenced by the rocket and field-piece party under Lieu-
tenant Paynter. The pirates had in the meantime manned
the batteries already passed, on which Captain Mundy was
sent down with the gunboats to destroy them. This he

394 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

partially did in five hours, but so great was their strength
that it would have taken days to do so effectually. Thirty-
nine guns, mostly of large calibre, nineteen of them being of
brass, fell into the hands of the British. The sultan and
his boasted army had taken to flight. He was accordingly
pursued by a party under Captain Mundy, to whom Lieu-
tenant Vansittart acted as aide-de-camp. Having gone as
far as they could in the boats, they landed, and in their
progress destroyed several newly - erected forts. The
natives now observing that no injury was done to private
property, joined them and offered their services as guides.
On their way they fell in with two houses belonging to the
sultan, containing shields, arms, and magazines of powder.
They were accordingly set on fire and destroyed, but the
sultan himself escaped for the time, though his power was
completely broken.

The towns of Pandassan and Tampassuck, notorious
haunts of Illaun pirates, were destroyed by Captains
M'Quhae and Mundy, and numerous piratical proas cap-
tured, sunk, or burnt. The fierce and desperate character
of the pirates was shown on all occasions. The Ringdove,
Commander Sir William Hoste, having taken a proa, she
was brought under the counter of the brig. From the
way in which the crew behaved, it was doubted whether
she was really a pirate, but as a protection a guard of
three marines and several seamen was placed over them.
Suddenly, during the night, they rose without the slightest
warning and flew simultaneously with their krises upon
the seamen and marines, and before the latter could defend
themselves, one marine was killed and the remainder of
the guard severely wounded. As the unfortunate marine
fell into the hold of the proa, the pirate chief seized his
musket and fired it at the officer standing at the gangway.
Another desperado, lunging his spear through the after-
port of the brig, mortally wounded the master. The
pirates then cut the hawser, and seizing their paddles,
made off for the shore. The boats were immediately
manned and sent in chase, when in ten minutes the proa
was boarded, upon which the pirates retreated below, and
with their long spears through the bamboo-deck made a,

DESTRUCTION OF PIRATES IN THE CHINA SEAS. 395

desperate defence, but finally, refusing quarter, were slain
to a man, and the proa was sunk by the guns of the
pinnace.

The piratical fleets cruising off the coast of China com-
mitted even greater depredations on commerce, as well as
on the population of the sea-board, than even those in the
Indian seas. Captain Edward Vansittart, in command of
the Bittern, was sent against them with two steamers
fitted out by the Chinese merchants. The latter were
manned chiefly from an American frigate, the Macedonian,
then cruising off the coast. After a search of some days
he discovered a flotilla of nearly forty junks, which bore
down on him with tom-toms beating, evidently intending
to fight. In order to draw them off the shore, he stood
away, but as they would not follow the Bittern out of
shoal water, she again steered towards them, yawing to
bring her guns to bear, while they kept up a steady fire
on her. She, however, sank or disabled eight of them,
but the rest for a time escaped. Commander Vansittart
was, however, able to set free a number of merchant- vessels
up different rivers in the neighbourhood, which had been
afraid to put to sea on account of the pirates, who had
demanded 1200 dollars for the ransom of each vessel. The
following day he captured twelve more, each carrying 10
guns with a crew of 50 men. Proceeding northwards, he
reached the mouth of the Yang'tse Kiang, where he heard
that a strong squadron of pirates had been blockading the
island of Potoo, in which place a party of English ladies
had taken refuge. On pursuing them, towed by the
Poushan to Sheepoo, he discovered twenty-two junks
lashed head and stern together across the entrance to the
harbour. As the Bittern approached, the pirates com-
menced a vigorous cannonade, to which she, however,
returned so hot a fire that in little more than an hour she
had knocked the greater number to pieces, one junk alone
being in a condition to carry off. No prisoners were made,
but the pirates as they escaped to the shore were put to
death by the inhabitants. Commander Creswell, in the
Surprise, and Captain N. Vansittart, in the Magician,
were equally successful in other directions. The latter

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

had under his command the Inflexible, Commander
Brook er, with the Plover and Algerine gunboats. As he
proceeded, reports reached him of the atrocities committed
by the pirates, and the natives were everywhere ready to
give him accurate intelligence of their hiding-places. As
they saw the British squadron, they took refuge when
they could on uninhabited islands ; when they escaped to
the mainland the people of the country put them to death
without mercy. As he was engaged in burning some
captured junks, a sound of firing from the shore reached
him. Immediately landing with a party of his men, he
pushed in the direction from which the firing proceeded.
He did not allow a gun to be discharged till he was within
pistol-shot, so that the enemy were not aware of his
approach. The whole of his party then opened their fire,
and the pirates taken by surprise, scampered off without
an attempt at resistance. The British having clambered
over a formidable stockade, found themselves in a battery
of 14 heavy guns, which must have contained a garrison
strong enough to offer a successful resistance had the
pirates fought with any courage.

Six large junks were soon afterwards met with, the
whole of which were captured, and the crews of every one
killed or made prisoners, besides which upwards of twenty
prisoners taken by the pirates were released. Soon after-
wards, while pursuing a pirate up a creek, his own light
gig being far ahead of the heavier boats, he came up with
the chase, which with his small party he gallantly boarded,
several of her crew being killed, among which was Chappoo,
a pirate chief long the terror of those seas. Altogether, in
a week's cruise he had destroyed a 14-gun battery and
100 piratical craft, and had taken upwards of 200 guns
and 36 pirates, besides having killed nearly 400 more.
He had, in addition, retaken six vessels and liberated
sixty prisoners captured by the pirates.

One more example alone can be given of the expeditions
against the pirates of those seas. On the 30th of January,
1849, news was brought to Sir James Brooke that a large
fleet of pirates had attacked the neighbouring village of
Palo, and had threatened with destruction the inhabitants

INSTRUCTION OF PlltATE FLEET?. 39?

of the Sarabas River. A force, consisting of H.M. brigs
Albatross and Royalist, with the Nemesis and Renee,
under the orders of Commander Farquhar, immediately
got under way, accompanied by a native flotilla, under
Rajah Brooke, and proceeded to meet them. The Nemesis
steamed out to sea to prevent their escape in that direction,
and as soon as she was descried by the pirates they^ made
at once for the Kaluka River, where they were intercepted
by the native boats and those commanded by Lieutenants
Welmshurst and Everest. The pirates then made a dash
to reach their river, when they came in contact with the
men-of-war's boats. It being now dark, there was con-
siderable danger that the latter would fire into each other,
or into the craft of their native allies. The pass-word was
" Rajah," and the Malays screamed this out at the top of
their voices when they thought any of the Europeans were
near them. Commander Farquhar seeing two large proas
escaping seaward, ordered the steam tender to chase. The
nearest one, having barely escaped one of her 6-pounder
rockets, made for the river, but in her course was encoun-
tered by the Nemesis, which dealing death and destruction
to all around her, ran her down, and a fearful scene took
place as her crew, above sixty in number, came in contact
with the paddle-wheels. A large Congreve rocket from
the smaller steamer entered a proa which had stood out to
sea, and completely destroyed her. The battle continued
till past midnight, when Commander Farquhar, taking the
boats in tow, commenced the ascent of the Sarabas, to
prevent the escape of the pirates by the Rembas branch.
At daylight the whole bay presented one mass of wreck,
shields, spears and portions of destroyed proas, extending
as far as the eye could reach, as well as on the sandy spit
which extends a considerable distance seawards. On the left
bank of the Sarabas were upwards of seventy proas, which
the natives were busy clearing of all valuables and destroy-
ing. Of 120 proas which are said to have started on a
piratical expedition, more than 80 were destroyed, with
1200 men. No more convincing proof of the inhuman
disposition of the pirates need be cited than the fact that
the bodies of women, supposed to have been captives

398 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

taken by the pirates, were found on the beach decapitated
and gashed from the shoulder to the feet. On sailing up
the river the force destroyed a piratical town, some villages
and war-proas, and then passing the Rejang River, chastised
another tribe of pirates. Some prisoners were secured,
among whom was a child, apparently of European origin.
In other districts hostages were taken for the future peace-
able demeanour of the inhabitants. By this severe ex-
ample it was hoped that the piratical habits of the people
would be effectually checked, and an opportunity given to
the nascent civilisation of those regions to develop itself.

african Coast

The horrible traffic in slaves has been carried on from
the west coast of Africa to the American continent since
Sir John Hawkins shipped his first cargo of blacks for the
Spanish settlements, to supply the loss of the mild and
yielding natives of the New World destroyed by the
avarice and cruelty of their task-masters. The vessels
which trafficked in slaves ran down the coast, touching at
all the principal native settlements, and purchased such
slaves as were offered for sale until their cargoes were com-
pleted. Sometimes a well-armed slaver carried off by force
the negroes on board another slaver ready to sail, and
unable to defend herself. After a time, regular slave-
dealers established themselves on the coast, and induced
the natives to make war on each other, in order that those
captured might be brought to them for sale. There were
at convenient points along the coast forts and stations
established by the British and other European Governments
for the very purpose of facilitating the slave-trade. At
length, by the indefatigable efforts of Wilberforce and other
philanthropic men, the British public were taught to look
on the slave-trade in all its dark and revolting colours.
The British slave-trade was abolished on the 1st of January,
1808. At first only a fine was inflicted on those convicted
of slave-dealing, but in 1824 the offence was declared to
be piracy, and punishable by death. In 1837 the punish-

SLAVE BARRACOONS. 399

merit inflicted on British subjects for trading in slaves
was changed to transportation for life. On the trade
being declared illegal, it was abandoned at all European
settlements, with the exception of those belonging to the
Spaniards and Portuguese, who, determining to persist
in it, had adopted a new mode of operations. They had
erected barracoons on those parts of the coast where slaves
could be collected with the greatest ease. At stated
periods vessels visited them, and took away the slaves
without being detained on the coast more than twenty-four
hours, and often a less time. They had from forty to fifty
points where barracoons were placed, and many thousands (
of slaves every year were exported from them. A slave
factory consists of several large dwelling-houses for the
managers and clerks, and of huge stores for the reception
of goods, sometimes to the amount of £100,000. To these
are attached barracoons or sheds made of heavy piles
driven deep into the earth, lashed together with bamboos,
and thatched with palm-leaves. In these barracoons the
slaves, when purchased, are imprisoned, till shipped on
board a slave-vessel. If the barracoon be a large one,
there is a centre row of piles, and along each line of piles
is a chaift, and at intervals of about two feet is a large
neck-link, in one of which each slave is padlocked. Should
this method be insufficient, two, and sometimes when the
slaves appear unusually strong, three are shackled to-
gether— the strong man being placed between two others
and heavily ironed ; and often beaten half to death before-
hand to ensure his being quiet. The floor is planked, not
from any regard to the comfort of the slave, but because a
small insect being in the soil might deteriorate the mer-
chandise by causing a cutaneous disease. Night and day
these barracoons are guarded by armed men, and the
slightest insubordination immediately punished.

In building a slaver, the Spaniards and Portuguese
spare no expense in order to make her light and buoyant.
Her timbers and beams are small, and screwed together.
When chased, the screws are loosened, to give the vessel
play. Within her hold are erected huge water-casks called
leaguers, on these are stowed the provisions, wood, &c. ;

400 POPULAR HISTORY 0$ THE BRITISH NAVY.

above this is the slave-deck. Thirty-six inches may be
considered a medium height, but they sometimes measure
4 feet 6 inches, though occasionally only 14 or 18 inches,
intended for the stowage of children. The upper-deck is
generally clear, except of the sweeps or oars for calms.
There is a covered sleeping-place, about 6 feet long by 3
feet wide, on each side, for the captain and pilot. Some
used to carry guns, but of late years few do so. They
mostly have but one small boat. The sails, on account of
the frequency and force of the tornados, are very low and
bent broad. Thus, the fore-yard of a brig of about 140
tons, taken by H.M. ship Dolphin, was 76 feet long, and
her ropes so beautifully racked aloft that after a cannonade
of sixty shot, in which upwards of fifty had taken effect,
not one sail was lowered. The following are the articles
by which a slaver can be condemned if found on board: —
A slave-deck, or planks ready for a deck ; slave irons and
slave coppers, which are a large cooking apparatus
for the slaves and crew, standing generally amid-ships on
the upper-deck ; an extra quantity of farina, rice, water,
or other provisions, which cannot be accounted for. The
horrors of a full slaver almost defy description. Arrived
on the coast and the port reached, if no man-of-war be on
the coast, two hours suffice to place 400 human beings on
board. On the slaves being received, the largest men are
picked out as head-men, and these dividing the slaves into
gangs, according to the size of the vessel, of from ten to
twenty, keep them in order. A slave-deck is divided into two
unequal parts, the larger for the men, the other for women
and children. The stowage is managed entirely by the
head-men, who take care that the strongest slaves should
be farthest from the ship's side, or from any position in
which their strength might avail them to secure a larger
space than their neighbours. The form of stowage is that
the poor wretch shall be seated on the beams, and the
head thrust between the knees, so close that when one
moves the mass must move also. The slaves feed twice
a-day, and in order to give room, one-half are allowed at a
time on deck at the hour of the meal. They are arranged
into messes, and when all is ready, at a signal from the

DESCRIPTION OF A SLAVER. 401

head-men, they commence. The food consists of either
rice, carabansas, a kind of bean, or farina, the flour of the
cassava boiled. After each meal they are made to sing to
digest their food, and then the water is served out, the
fullest nominal allowance of which is one quart to each
daily, though seldom more than a pint. Irons are seldom
used on board, only in case of a mutiny, or if closely chased
by a man-of-war, in which case the condition of the slaves
becomes truly dreadful ; they are all barred below for fear
of their rising, are seldom watered till the chase be over,
that may last two or three days, while everything that can
be thought of to make the vessel sail is done, whatever
misery it may cost the cargo. Often some of the unfoi-
tunate wretches are thrown overboard in empty casks or
lashed to floats, in the hope that the cruiser will stop to
pick them up, and thus delay the chase. In many in-
stances, when slaves have been captured, twenty or thirty,
or even more, have been found dead on board, while the
rest have been in a most horribly suffering condition. In-
deed, the operation of taking off the hatches of a captured
slaver, from the effluvium which arises, is sufficient to try
the strongest stomachs, while the hearts of the captors
cannot fail to be touched by the dreadful sufferings of
their fellow-creatures which they are doomed to witness.
Of late years the slave-trade from the West Coast has been
carried on chiefly by fast steamers, but as the men-of-war
engaged in the blockade are also steamers, the slave-dealers
have found the trade a losing one, so that on the whole of
the West Coast there are very few points from which slaves
are shipped. From the early part of the century, British
men-of-war have been employed on the African coast
blockade, but for a long time, as only a few 10-gun brigs,
and they inefficient vessels, were sent out, and as there
were scarcely ever more than six cruisers at a time on the
coast, during twenty years, from 1819 to 1839, only 333
slave-vessels were captured ; whereas after that period a
superior class of 16 and 18 gun brigs and sloops of war,
and latterly fast screw-steamers, fitted for sailing as well as
for steaming, were employed ; and during the next eleven
years 744 slave-vessels were captured. As up to 1849

2 c

402 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

probably two-thirds of those engaged in the trade escaped,
we may have some idea of the vast number of blacks
carried into captivity to America and the West Indies.

As for many years to blockade a coast-line of 3000
miles and upwards, only a few 10-gun brigs were em-
ployed, they being generally slow craft and very crank, in
the open sea the fast-sailing slavers managed easily to
escape from them. Captures, therefore, were mostly
effected by their boats, which were sent up the rivers to
lie in wait for the slavers, or to attack them when they
were known to be at anchor. This species of service
caused a great mortality among their crews, as a night
spent in the pestiferous miasma of an African river was
sufficient to produce fever among all those exposed to it,
while the hot sun of the day was almost equally trying to
English constitutions. Thus for many years the mortality
among the blockading squadron was very great, and
vessels have been known to return home with scarcely
men sufficient to work them, and under charge of a
master's assistant, or on one occasion the purser's clerk,
all the superior officers having died or been invalided.
Sometimes the boats were sent away for days, and even
weeks together, to watch for slavers, and were thus often
successful in capturing them when their ships had failed
to do so. In this way a mate of the Hyacinth, Mr.
Tottenham, who was a remarkably good shot, in a four-
oared gig chased a slave-brig, armed with a long gun and
a number of muskets. Having succeeded with his rifle
in picking off four of the slaver's crew, he compelled her
to run on shore to avoid being boarded ; the survivors of
the crew, eighteen in number, then abandoning her, she
was hove off by the Hyacinth, and proved to be of 200
tons, fitted for carrying a thousand slaves, and armed with
two guns, and a number of muskets, swords, and bayonets.

Prizes were carried to Sierra Leone for adjudication,
often with several hundred negroes on board. To pre-
serve the rescued blacks in health was an onerous
care to the captors; and instances have occurred where
the greater number of the prize crew have died from
fever. Such was the case with the Doris, a small schooner

THE " BLACK JOKE " AND " MARINERETO." 403

captured by the Dolphin; her gunner, who was put in
charge, with nearly all his men having died, so that she
was found boxing about some twenty miles below Acra,
without any one to navigate her. Lieutenant Augustus
Murray, with a crew of two men and two boys, and a
black who had survived the fever, was then put on board
on August the 12th. Sickness attacked the lieutenant
and his small crew, heavy gales came on, the schooner
became so leaky that it was with difficulty she was kept
afloat, she narrowly escaped capture by a slaver, the
canvas was blown away, and finally calms came, suc-
ceeded by terrific storms, so that almost five months
elapsed before the sorely-battered craft and her almost
starved crew reached Sierra Leone.

Experience at length taught the officers of the squadron
the means of combating the deadly effects of the climate,
and preserving the health of their crews. The men were
not allowed to leave the ship early in the morning with-
out taking hot cocoa and an ample supply of nourishing
food. They were clothed in thick flannel suits, were not
allowed to remain up the rivers at night, and the use of
quinine was introduced. By these means the crews were
preserved in health, and only during very sickly seasons
was there any great mortality among them ; indeed, of
late years, vessels have returned from the coast without
the loss of a man.

Most of the slavers were unarmed, and those carrying
guns rarely attempted to defend themselves when over-
taken, although they might have fired to knock away the
spars of their pursuers. Occasionally, when attacked by
a vessel inferior to themselves, or by one or two boats,
a slaver's crew fought desperately. One of the most gal-
lant actions was fought by the Black Joke, a schooner,
commanded by Lieutenant Ramsey. She carried but one
long heavy pivot-gun and a carronade, and had, all told,
a crew only of 44 officers and men. Lieutenant Ram-
sey got intelligence that a brigantine, the Marinereto,
of large size and great Speed, and armed with five 18-
pounder guns, and a crew of nearly 80 men, was lying
in the Old Calabar River with a cargo of slaves destined

404 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

for Cuba. She was commanded by a determined fellow,
who had vowed he would never be captured, it was said,
and was especially anxious to meet the Black Joke to
punish her on account of the slavers she had already
taken. Lieutenant Ramsey at once stood down for the
Calabar River. As she could not enter it, he kept close
off it by night, and stood away from the land during the
day, that the slaver, not knowing of his presence, might
venture to put to sea. After waiting for some days, the
slaver was seen under all sail coming down the river.
The Black Joke at once lowered her canvas, that she
might remain concealed from the slaver's view as long as
possible. On again hoisting it, the Marinereto, notwith-
standing her commander's boastings, made all sail to
avoid her, while Lieutenant Ramsey, setting all the can-
vas he could carry, stood after her in chase. Still, as the
Marinereto was by far the faster vessel of the two, there
was every chance of her escaping ; when, fortunately, a
calm came on, and both vessels got out their sweeps.
The Slack Joke had now an advantage, as, from her small
size, her crew were able to row her rapidly through the
water. Keeping the chase in sight all night, by the next
morning Lieutenant Ramsey got her within range. Know-
ing, however, that she had a closely-packed cargo of slaves
on board, he refrained from firing for fear of injuring
them, although the brigantine was cutting his rigging to
pieces with her shot. At length he got sufficiently close
to aim only at the slaver's decks, and having loaded his
guns with grape, and ordered two men to be ready to lash
the vessels together directly they touched, he directed the
rest of the crew to lie down to avoid the enemy's shot.
He now ran the chase on board, discharging into her both
his guns, and, under cover of the smoke, gallantly sprang
on her deck, followed by a portion of his crew. The
greater number, however, were prevented from boarding,
as no sooner did the Black Joke strike the slaver than
the force of the collision drove her off, and the gallant
lieutenant, with only ten of his people, found himself
opposed to the eighty miscreants who formed the slaver's
crew, several of whom were either Englishmen or Ameri-

THE " FELICIDADE." 405

cans, who, consequently, fought with the greatest despera-
tion. In spite of the gallantry of the British, they ran a
great risk of being overpowered, but, happily, a midship-
man, Mr. Hinds, then scarcely fifteen years old, had the
presence of mind to order the crew to get out their
sweeps, and, succeeding in again getting alongside the
slaver, she was securely lashed to the Black Joke.
Young Hinds then calling on his companions to follow,
dashed on board the slaver, and, after a desperate hand-
to-hand conflict, during which one of the British crew
was killed and seven wounded, they cut down and killed
fifteen Spaniards, and wounded a good many more, the
survivors, who still greatly outnumbered the victors, leap-
ing below and crying out for quarter. Nearly 500 blacks
were found on board, but as the hatches had been fastened
down directly the Black Joke had been seen, and the
chase had lasted upwards of twenty-four hours, above
twenty of the blacks had died, and sixty were dying,
from want of air. The prize was carried to Fernando
Po, where the survivors were liberated. Lieutenant Ram-
sey was immediately promoted to the rank of commander.
The officers and crews engaged in the service had to go
through no common dangers. A Brazilian schooner, the
Felicidade, had been captured by the Wasp, when, with
the exception of the captain of the prize and another man,
the crew were transferred to her, and Lieutenant Stupart,
with Mr. Palmer, midshipman, and a crew of fifteen seamen,
remained in charge of the slaver. On her way to Sierra
Leone the Felicidade chased and captured the Echo, with
a crew of 28 men and 430 slaves. Lieutenant Stupart
taking charge of the more valuable prize, left Mr. Palmer
in command of the Felicidade, with 7 Englishmen and 2
Kroomen. Unfortunately the captain and several of the
1 ' cho's crew were sent on board her as prisoners. Some
days afterwards the Felicidade was seen by H.M. ship Star,
Commander Dunlop, and on being chased made every
effort to escape. When boarded the crew fled below ; many
of them were wounded, while there were evident traces
that a severe struggle had taken place, and articles belong-
ing to English seamen being found, there could be no

406 POPULAR HISTORY Otf THti BRITISH NAVY.

doubt that the prize-crew had risen on Mr. Palmer and his
men, and murdered the whole of them. Captain Dunlop
taking out the prisoners, left Lieutenant Wilson and nine
men in charge of the Felicidade, with directions to
proceed to Sierra Leone. She never reached her destina-
tion, having shortly afterwards been capsized, when she
sank, a portion of her bow-rail alone remaining above
water. To this Lieutenant Wilson and his people clung,
and contrived to form a raft, on which two Kroomen and
three of the seamen perished, but Lieutenant Wilson, with
four survivors, after remaining twenty days on their raft,
being supported chiefly by the flesh of a shark caught with
a bowling-knot, were picked up after undergoing fearful
hardships, and ultimately recovered their health.

Not only were the squadron engaged in capturing slavers
at sea, but whenever it could be legally done, the boats
were sent on shore to destroy the slave barracoons, and to
set the occupants at liberty. This was often dangerous
work, for whenever the slave-dealers thought they could do
so with success, they did not scruple with their armed men
to fire on their assailants. One of the most important
services, however, rendered by the squadron was the
capture of Lagos, in the Bight of Benin, under Commodore
Bruce, in 1851. It had hitherto been one of the chief
slave-marts, and its rulers had encouraged the tribes in the
interior to make war on each other, for the sake of the
captives they might bring to them. Two brothers, the
younger of whom, Akitoye, had succeeded by his father's will
as king, the elder, Kosako, having for misbehaviour been
banished, it gave an opening for the interference of the
English. Akitoye having recalled Kosako, the latter
rebelled and usurped the government, compelling Akitoye
to take refuge at Badagry. On this Kosako was pre-
paring to attack Badagry, and would certainly have invaded
Abbeokuta, the centre of Christianity and civilisation in
that part of Africa, when Mr. Beecroft, the British agent
on the coast, applied to Commodore Bruce for a force to
destroy Lagos. The Bloodhound, steamer, with a small
squadron of boats, was accordingly sent up, but was fired
on by Kosako's people. In consequence, the town was

ATTACK ON LAGO«. 407

attacked and entered, with the loss of two British officers
and several men wounded. As their force was inadequate
to hold the place, the English were compelled to retire.
As soon as a sufficient number of vessels could be collected,
another expedition was sent against Lagos, which arrived
before it on the 26th of December, 1851. As neither the
Penelope nor the flag-ship of Commodore Bruce, nor any of
the larger vessels, could cross the bar, the Bloodhound acd
Teaser only, with the boats of the squadron strongly armed,
were sent in, under the command of Captain Lewis Jones,
of the Sampson, with Commander Henry Lister, of the
Penelope, as his second. The expedition was joined by the
ex-king Akitoye, and upwards of 600 men, who were
landed in some canoes captured by Lieutenant Saumarez.
Lagos was strongly fortified ; the people also had long been
trained to arms, and possessed at least 5000 muskets and
60 pieces of cannon, so that the work undertaken was of
no contemptible character. As the Bloodhound and
Teaser with the boats approached the stockades, they were
received with a hot fire from the guns, jingalls, and muskets
of the negroes, which was returned with round shot and
rockets from the steamers and boats. An attempt at land-
ing was made by a party under Lieutenant Saumarez with
the boats of the Sampson, but so hot was the fire through
which they had to pass, that before they got on shore, Mr.
Richards, a gallant young midshipman, was killed, and 10
men severely wounded. An attempt was then made to
force their way through the stockades, but, after some men
had been hit, Lieutenant Saumarez among them, he was
compelled to retire. The Teaser having unfortunately got
on shore, was exposed to the fire of the enemy ; as the only
way of saving her, a party was sent under Captain Lister
to capture the guns directly pointing at her. After some
severe fighting, and the loss of several men, they forced
their way into the stockade and drove out the enemy, when
all the guns were spiked. During this operation one of the
life-boats was captured by the blacks, and in an attempt to
retake her with several other boats, another midshipman,
Mr. Fletcher, was killed. Commander Hillyar and several
other officers and men were severely wounded, as was

408 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Lieutenant Corbet, in endeavouring to cut the chain-cable
of the Victoria, Mr. Beecroft's boat, under a hot fire from
the blacks. The life-boat was after all left on shore, when
some forty blacks getting into her to carry her off, Mr.
Balfour threw a rocket from the first cutter, which, entering
her magazine, blew it up. In the evening the Teaser,
after great exertions, was got off. The next morning the
attack was renewed, when at length the rockets from the
squadron, admirably thrown, set the town on fire, and, the
conflagration extending, the magazine was blown up, the
whole place being shortly in a general blaze. A welcome
reinforcement of the boats of the Volcano and Waterwitch,
under Commanders Coote and Gardner, arriving, after
an interval of Sunday, preparations were made for another
still more formidable attack on the place, when it was found
that Kosako had abandoned it, and Akitoye, who with his
people had absconded when affairs appeared unfavourable
to his cause, was brought back and installed as king. Since
then Lagos has become a possession of the British Empire.

A small squadron is still kept on the west coast,
and but a very limited number of slaves are shipped from
any part of it.

British ships have also been employed in the West
Indies and along the eastern coast of South America
in capturing slavers carrying blacks either to Cuba or to
the Brazils. The Cuban slavers, large well-armed vessels,
manned by ruffians of all nations, were frequently guilty
of acts of piracy, and often fought desperately before they
yielded. As the Brazilian laws now prohibit the impor-
tation of slaves, the steam-cruisers on the station have
completely put a stop to the traffic.

£1)OtnsCf)a0ing; on tfje OEagt Coatft of africa,

The slave-trade is, however, still carried on to a lament-
able extent on the east coast of Africa, to supply the
Arabian and Persian markets, and has been the chief
cause of all the depopulating wars which have taken place
on that side of Africa, reducing whole districts inhabited

SLAVE TRADE ON THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 409

by an industrious people into howling deserts. A squad-
ron, consisting entirely of steamers, has now for some
years been stationed on that coast for its suppression.

Though not sanctioned by the Portuguese government,
their officials in their possessions at the mouth of the
Zambesi and other places along the coast have taken an
active part in the trade, as have also the French, who,
though they do not call their captives slaves, equally
encourage the slave-dealers and internal warfare, by pur-
chasing the blacks taken in battle and carrying them off
under the name of apprentices to their possessions in the
Southern ocean. The service on this coast, though less
unhealthy, provided the crews do not sleep on shore, is
often severe in the extreme, the boats being sent away for

SMALL DHOW.

considerable periods to watch for slaving-dhows as they
sail along the coast. These dhows are large, swift-sailing
craft, commanded and manned by Arabs, savage fellows,
who frequently fight desperately when attacked by the
boats. With a strong breeze they often manage to elude
even steamers. When hard pressed, with a full cargo of
slaves on board, they will run their vessels through the
surf on shore in the hopes of carrying off some of their
unfortunate captives who may escape from the wreck,
being very indifferent about those who may be drowned.
The Arabs themselves generally manage to get on shore,
though sometimes the whole of their black cargo is
sacrificed.

410 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

From the following account by an eye-witness some of
the lesser horrors of the slave-trade on the east coast may
be conceived. It exhibits, also, the spirit in which our
gallant officers and seamen carry on the duty imposed on
them.

Her Majesty's steamer Vulture, Commander Cay, was,
in 1874, cruising off Madagascar, when, it being almost
calm, a dhow was seen standing for the port of Majunga.
Although she had every appearance of an honest trader,
a boat was sent to board her, carrying one of the officers
and an interpreter, with directions to hail the Vulture
should any slaves be found. All was suspense till the cry
came from the dhow of " She's a slaver, sir !" Three
hearty cheers were given by the Vulture's crew. " How
many has she on board ?" asked the captain. " Two hun-
dred, sir," was the answer. A hawser was soon passed on
board the slaver, and she was hauled alongside. Then began
the sickening task of transferring the poor captives from
the dhow to the ship. The British seamen behaved
nobly ; even the regular grumblers forgot their complaints
and came forward to assist in transporting the weak and
helpless creatures from their prison. So cramped and
emaciated were they that many had to be carried in the
arms of the men. Tenderly and carefully did these strong,
rough fellows bear their helpless burdens, notwithstanding
the filth which had accumulated on them during their long
imprisonment in the pestilential hold. Now and then a
baby appeared, and was eagerly lifted on board by the
men. There were seven, and as the little ones were borne
along they opened their eyes with wonderment. One baby
had been born on board the dhow, and another had lost its
mother during the fatal voyage. Those who had suffered
most were children whose ages ranged from three to seven
years. They had been evidently unable to hold their own
against the stronger ones in the scramble for food which
had taken place at feeding time; the stronger thrived,
while the weaker starved. Of the hapless cargo thirty
were at death's door, and thirty others little more than
skeletons. Many of the unhappy beings had scarcely
tasted food during their imprisonment in the dhow. In

CAPTURE OF A SLAVE DHOW. 411

they poured, a living stream, until the ship's decks were
covered with a black mass of human beings of all ages,
including women so old that it was difficult to understand
what object those dealers in human flesh could have had
in shipping such worthless articles for the slave-market.
At last the stream stopped. " They're all out of the
dhow, sir," exclaimed the seamen who remained on board
the vessel. " Have another look and make quite sure,"

DHOW CHASED BY MAN-OF-WAR.

answered the commander. Well it was that they did so,
for in a dark corner of the hold, buried all but the head in
the sand which the dhow carried for ballast, lay a poor old
woman. She was dug out and borne on board.

In the meantime the Arabs came on board the Vulture,
but these, having suffered no privations, were able to
walk, and as they came over the side the ship's corporal
and corporal of marines stripped them to search for arms

412 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

or money. Nothing being found, they had their clothes
returned, and were marched on to the poop and placed
under a sentry's charge to wait till they could be turned
over to the tender mercies of the Sultan of Zanzibar — a
fate they dread very much. There were two women on
board who seemed past hope of recovery ; the one who was
dug out of the sand, and another with an infant at her
back, in which way these people carry their children. The
greater portion were suffering dreadfully. Forty-one men,
59 women, and 137 children were taken out of the dhow from
between her decks, where they had been packed, unable to
move during the whole voyage. The young and good-
looking women, who were the most profitable portion of the
cargo, appeared to have been well fed, while the men and
boys had been starved. The first care was to remove the
filth with which they were covered. Those able to bear it
were passed under the steam hose, the few rags they had
on being taken away as they entered the stream, and as
they passed out dry coverings were wrapped round them,
contributed by the officers and seamen, such as shirts,
towels, sheets, flannels, &c. The weaker ones were washed
in warm water with soap. Nothing could exceed the
gentleness with which the hardy tars handled these poor
creatures. By the time they had all been washed the food
was ready, and they were made to sit down in circles of
from twelve to twenty. Large bowls of boiled rice and
beans were placed in the centre of each group ; this was
the signal for the most dreadful din ; each fearing his or
her neighbour would get a larger share, crammed the food
into their mouths, fighting, squalling, crying, and shouting
being carried on all the time until the dishes were empty.
It showed what must have been the state of things in the
dhow, where there was no room to portion them off,
neither would the lazy Arab disturb himself to see justice
done to each. The sick were cared for by the doctor and
his attentive sick-bay man, assisted by all the officers.
Preserved milk, port wine, brandy and water, and pre-
served fowl were pressed upon these suffering ones, who
were almost too far gone to care for anything, except to be
allowed to die in peace. The difficulty was to berth them ;

DUTY OF ENGLAND TO SUPPRESS SLAVE TRADE. 413

it was impossible to let them go below, their filthy habits
making it necessary that they should remain on the upper-
deck, where plenty of water could be used for washing
down. They were accordingly made to lie close to each
other, when sails were covered over them and screens were
hung round, while the awning was stretched over the top
of all Sleep was out of the question, even for the weary
seamen; the groans and cries were most heartrending.
The doctor and his assistant were up all night attending to
the poor captives. At Majunga calico was purchased to
clothe them. In the morning they went through the same
cleansing process as the night before, when the warm sun,
and decks washed down, made things look more cheerful.
The dhow having been burnt, the Vulture stood away for
the Seychelles. Cold nights told upon the exhausted
frames of the poor captives, fifteen of whom passed away
in spite of every care before the ship had completed half
her voyage to the Seychelles. Happily the weather
remained remarkably fine. Altogether seventeen deaths
occurred among the slaves during the twelve days they
were on board before the ship reached her destination. Six
of these were children. The two women most despaired of
were landed in a much improved state.

Frequently the slaving-dhows captured are in a far more
horrible state than in the instance above given. The Arabs
have been known to murder and throw into the sea every
slave on board, in the hopes of preserving their vessel when
they have seen no chance of escape. Very often half the
slaves die on the voyage between the coast of Africa and
the Persian Gulf. Probably, for every slave captured ten
human lives have been lost, either in the attack on their
native villages or on the journey to the coast, or by the
attempts made to land them through the surf when chased
by men-of-war, or by starvation and sickness on board.
Still, as long as the Arabs have any hopes of making the
voyage profitable, they will pursue the traffic, and the only
way to put a stop to the horrible system is by making the
chances of capture so great that they will be compelled to
abandon it in despair. This can most effectually be done
by keeping a large squadron of fast steamers, well supplied

414 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with boats, under zealous and active officers, with orders
to board and thoroughly examine every dhow they can fall in
with, and not to allow one to pass which has the slightest
indication of being destined for the slave-trade.

British ships of war, mostly steamers, now traverse the
whole of the Pacific, one of the chief services in which they
are engaged being the prevention of the kidnapping system
which has been carried on to a great extent to supply the
Fiji Islands and Queensland with labourers. Nothing
could be more abominable than the system which has been
pursued. Small armed vessels have been fitted out, and
have, by fraud or violence, got the natives of different
islands to come on board, when, shutting them down under
hatches, they have carried them off and disposed of them,
though nominally as free labourers, yet in reality as slaves.
By the efforts of the naval officers engaged in the service,
the practice has nearly, if not entirely, been suppressed.

These satisfactory results have not been produced with-
out the sacrifice of the lives of many gallant officers and
seamen, the destruction of the health of many more, and
by a large expenditure of money. The question to be
asked is, " Will England be content, when contemplating all
that she has done, that slavery and the accursed slave-trade
shall exist in any part of the world where she by means
of her navy has the power to put it down ?" We are confi-
dent that from every part of the British dominions the
answer will be, " No ! at every cost we will continue the
noble work we have commenced, and not rest while a single
nation dares to assert her right to enslave our fellow-men."

We hold it as one of the most glorious privileges which
England possesses that a slave once setting foot on British
soil or reaching the deck of a British man-of-war is a slave
no longer, and must not be delivered up to the man who
calls himself his owner while an English soldier or sailor
remains alive to defend him, or a plank of the ship in which
he has sought refuge still floats above the surface. More,
we would say that should the fugitive slave place his hand
on the gunwale of the smallest boat above which the flag
of England flies, protection should be afforded him, even
though his pursuers were at his heels. Let other nations

THE NIGER EXPEDITION. 415

know that England denies that one man can justly enslave
his fellow — acknowledges not the right of ownership in
slaves, but is resolved to strike off the fetters from the
captive wherever he can be reached, whether on shore or
afloat. But her task is only yet partly accomplished — she
has still a great and glorious work before her, and to enable
the officers of our ships to perform their duty as they would
wish to do it, they must be hampered by no vexatious restric-
tions, or be allowed to feel that they are liable to heavy
fines or censure should they overstep the strict line of
their orders. Let them rather be assured that the nation
fully understands the difficulties with which they have to
contend, and will afford them support should they err in
exhibiting their zeal in the repression of the evil traffic.
The west coast still requires watching ; each harbour on
the east coast from which slaves are shipped must be
blockaded, till every Arab dhow manned by a slave-trading
crew is captured and destroyed. Our fleet of gunboats
could not be more usefully employed than in such an
undertaking, and in a few years, or months even, under
active officers, they would render slave-trading too pre-
carious a pursuit to be followed.

OBrpetiition up tfje

To assist in the suppression of the slave-trade on the
west coast of Africa, an expedition was organised in 1841,
and placed under Captain Henry D. Trotter, commanding
H.M. steam- vessel Albert, Lieutenants Fishbourne and
Stenhouse. She was accompanied by H.M. steam-vessel
Wilberforce, Commander William Allen, with Lieutenants
James Strange and H. Harston, and H.M. steam-vessel
Soudan, Commander Bird Allen. These vessels were
built for the purpose by Mr. Laird, of Liverpool. The two
first were 139 feet 4 inches in length on deck, 27 feet
breadth of beam, 11 feet depth of hold, 6 feet draft of
water, and 457 tons measurement, and each was armed
with one long brass 12-pounder, two brass 12-pounder
howitzers, and 4 brass 1-pounder swivels, besides small

416 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY. "

arms. They had lofty masts, and were square-rigged for-
ward and schooner aft; but though excellent sea-boats
when hauled on a wind, from being flat-bottomed, they
made much leeway. The Soudan was smaller, and drew
only 4 feet 6 six inches. They were fitted with ventilat-
ing machines, and every means that science could devise
was employed for the preservation of the health of the
crews. On reaching the mouth of the Niger, a party of
Kroomen were taken on board. After proceeding some
way up the Niger against a strong current, they reached
a spot fixed on for establishing a model farm, when the
stores for the purpose were landed. Unhappily, the paddle-
box boat of the Wilberforce got adrift and sank in the
centre of the river, whence she could not be recovered.
Soon afterwards sickness attacked the crews of all the ships,
and so rapid was the progress of the fever that the little
Soudan had only six persons able to move about. All
more or less suffered ; nothing but muttering, delirium, or
suppressed groans were heard on board the vessels. Nearly
every person, even those unattacked, complained of the
enervating effects of the climate. On the 18th of Septem-
ber the number of the sick had increased to sixty, and
many had died. Captain Trotter now decided to send
back the Soudan to the sea with the sick on board, under
the command of Lieutenant Fishbourne. The medical
officer being of opinion, however, that by ascending higher
up the river a more healthy climate would be reached,
resolved to proceed in that direction in the Albert, while
the Wilberforce also returned to the coast. There appeared
every prospect of the expedition proving a blessing to the
long-benighted inhabitants on either bank of the mighty
stream — but Providence ordered it otherwise. In spite
of the heroic courage displayed by all the naval officers
employed, Captain Trotter was at last compelled to order
the ship's head to be put down the stream, and on his
arrival at the coast, as the only chance of saving his life,
the medical officers ordered his return to England.

Notwithstanding the fearful loss of life which had
already been incurred, Commander William Allen, now
senior officer of the expedition, hearing that Mr. Carr, the

TERMINATION OF THE EXPEDITION. 417

superintendent of the model farm, had been murdered,
and that the people were in danger of an attack from the
surrounding natives, resolved at once again to ascend the
river. He was on the point of starting, when H.M. steamer
Kite arrived with despatches stopping all further explora-
tions. He was, however, directed to send one of the
steamers with a black crew, and only the number of white
people and officers necessary to navigate her, to bring away
the people from the model farm. Lieutenant Webb at
once volunteered, and succeeded in carrying out his in-
structions, with the loss, unhappily, of Mr. Webb, clerk in
charge, and Mr. Waddington, boatswain, a fine specimen of
the British seaman, all the rest of the whites suffering also
from fever. Such was the unhappy termination of an
expedition undertaken with the most noble and philan-
thropic objects in view, and which, had it not been for the
deadly climate, must, from the determination and zeal of
all those engaged, have been fully successful.

L' T)

CHAPTER XIX.

8®arfar* in Stanfy-^mntHn, <&fym$t, anfr

Haters.

(FROM A.D. 1845 TO A.D. 1855.)

|ARELY has England been called on to inter-
fere in any of the quarrels which have been
so frequent among the states of South
America. However, in 1842, General Oribe,
president of the Banda Oriental, having
been expelled from Monte Video, induced General Rosas,
dictator of Buenos Ayres, to support his cause. Monte
Video was therefore besieged both by sea and land by the
Buenos Ayrean squadron and army; but the siege was
raised chiefly by the efforts of the foreigners residing in
the country, among whom was Garabaldi, who then first
made himself known, at the head of a regiment of 500
Italians, whom he had raised from among the crews of the
coasting vessels in the river. He and his followers
appeared in the red shirts which have since become so
famous. The English and French ministers residing in
the Banda Oriental having vainly endeavoured to induce
Rosas to keep the peace, their respective governments
sent out a squadron under the commands of Admirals
Inglefield and Laine. The fleet of Buenos Ayres was
captured, and the invaders were driven out of Colonia, a
town of which they had taken possession. Though thus
defeated, Rosas still held out on the banks of the Parana,
and had strongly fortified a place called Obligado, rather
more than a hundred miles from its mouth, having erected
418

ATTACK ON OBLIGADO. 419

batteries of great strength, and thrown a barrier consisting
of a number of empty vessels secured together by iron
cables across the whole width of the stream, guarded by
an armed schooner and some gunboats. The admirals
accordingly sent a detachment of their squadrons to attack
the fortress, and then to proceed up the Parana to release
a large fleet of merchant-vessels which had been detained
some hundred miles from its mouth. The British squadron
consisted of the steam-frigate Gorgon, Captain Charles
Hotham, who had under him the Firebrand steam-frigate,
Captain J. Hope, the Philomel surveying brig, Commander
B. J. Sulivan, and the Comus, Dolphin, and Fanny, the
latter commanded by Lieutenant A. C. Key. The French
force was under Captain Te'rehouart, commanding the St.
Martin, of 10 guns, who had with him the Fulton steamer
and three other vessels. After having been detained for
some time by bad weather, the squadron arrived opposite
the fortress, on which the vessels gallantly opened their
fire. It was returned by a tremendous shower of shot,
shell, grape, and rockets, by which a number of the English
and French were killed. The Spaniards, letting loose
their fire-vessels, endeavoured to destroy the ships, but
they were towed clear by the boats, while Captain Hope,
with a party of men trained for the purpose, under a
tremendous fire from the shore, cut through the chains, and
opened a way for the passage of the vessels up the stream.
The marines and blue-jackets were then landed, when
they attacking the batteries, the enemy took to flight, pur-
sued by Lieutenant Key, at the head of a light company
of seamen, who carried a wood into which they had thrown
themselves. In a few minutes the remainder of the
dictator's vessels were pursued up the streams in which
they had sought refuge, and were destroyed. Commander
Sulivan, of the Philomel, who had carefully surveyed the
river, now undertook to pilot the squadron up to Santa
FtS, the appointed rendezvous of the merchantmen. On their
passage most of the vessels were attacked by batteries
thrown up on the bank, and, unhappily, several officers and
men were killed. While the squadron and their convoy
were remaining at Santa Fe, E-o'sas had thrown up a line

420 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of heavy batteries on the summit of some high cliffs, at a
place called San Lorenzo. It was clear that the fleet
would be exposed to considerable danger while passing
these batteries. Lieutenant Mackinnon, of the Alecto,
having observed that opposite the batteries was a narrow
island covered with reeds, grass, and small trees, though
otherwise completely commanded by the batteries, pro-
posed landing during the night preceding the day the
squadron was to descend, with a number of Congreve
rockets, which he suggested should be fired into the fort so
as to distract the defenders, while the ships of war and
merchant-vessels passed under it. His proposal was
adopted. Fortunately, a bank was. found parallel with the
stream, which was of sufficient height to conceal the rocket
party. Having made their way across the island to it
during the hours of darkness, the rocket-stands were
planted, and all was ready for the passage of the fleet. As
Lieutenant Maekinnon was watching the battery from his
place of concealment, he observed a sentry suddenly stop,
one of the men having incautiously exposed himself, and
eye the spot narrowly. " Hold fast," he whispered to the
man ; " don't move, as you value your life." The man
obeyed, and the sentry moved on. At length, the wind
being fair, the signal that the fleet were approaching was
heard, the Gorgon, Fulton, and Alecto leading. As they
approached, Lieutenant Mackinnon, jumping on the em-
bankment and waving his cap, while the British flag was
hoisted under the very nose of the enemy, sang out,
" Pepper, lads ! pepper, lads ! pepper, pepper, pepper ! "
and pepper away the men did with a vengeance. In one
minute forty rockets, admirably directed, were poured into
the opposite battery, compelling the dismayed enemy to
desert their guns. Terrific must have been the slaughter
among them. The steamers meantime taking up their
position under the batteries, the fleet of merchantmen
passed quickly down under the showers of rockets which
were fired without cessation. The sternmost ships of the
squadron being out of range, the rocket party prepared to
retreat, while the enemy, misled by the flagstaff, which
was erected at some distance from their place of con-

EXPEDITION UP THE sf. JUAN DE NICARAGUA. 421

cealment, fired away at that. A better - conducted or
more successful exploit was never performed. The rocket
party got back to their boat without the loss of a single
man, and, pulling rapidly down the stream, rejoined their
ship. The British and French squadron, on their return to
Monte Video, defeated an attack made on the city by some
of the allies of Rosas, a party of marines and seamen being
landed to assist in placing it in a better position for
defence.

Captain ILocMs OBrpeDition up tfte
. 3(uan tie JSicaragua.

In 1848 Captain Granville G. Loch led a boat expedition
up the St. Juan de Nicaragua, which was as spiritedly
carried out as any in the times of the previous war. It
consisted of the boats of his own ship the Alarm and the
Vixen, Commander Rider ; and its object was to punish a
certain Colonel Sales of the Nicaraguan army, who, after
carrying off two British subjects and committing various
outrages, had fortified himself in the town of Serapaqui.
situated about thirty miles up the river. The current
runs at the rate of five knots an hour, and the fort was
situated at the head of a long reach, its defences consisting
of six angular stockaded entrenchments eight feet in
height, of considerable thickness, one side of each looking
down the reach and the other across the river, completely
commanding the only landing-place. Notwithstanding the
strength of the current, Captain Loch commenced the
ascent with twelve boats, carrying 260 officers and men,
accompanied by the consul in his own boat. Passing over
numerous downfalls and rapids, by immense exertions the
party, at the end of seventy- two hours, got almost in sight
of the fort. Unhappily, the consul and a friend accom-
panying him fell overboard during the night, and both
were drowned. The next morning on approaching the
fort the boats were received by a tremendous fire from it
and from both banks of the river, which riddled them

422 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with shot, broke nearly half the oars, killed two men, and
severely wounded Mr. Turner, a midshipman, and several
others. Notwithstanding this, pulling on against the
strong current for an hour and forty minutes, they got
past the batteries, and then, drop'ping down to the landing-
place, sprang on shore, and the crews, uttering a loud cheer,
stormed the stockades. The Nicaraguans withstood them
for some time, but at length giving way fled into the
forest, leaving twenty dead behind them, while twice that
number were wounded, and two officers and seven men
captured. The boats returned down the river, and arrived
safely on board the ships.

Attacks on

It is impossible to mention one-tenth part of the services
performed by our men-of-war in all parts of the world of
late years in capturing slavers, destroying pirates, and
punishing outrages committed on British subjects. In
1848 an English merchant- vessel, the Three Sisters, was
taken possession of by the notorious Riff pirates, and towed
close in to the shore on the coast of the Mediterranean, after
her master and the crew had fortunately escaped. Com-
mander M'Cleverty, of the Polyphemus, was at once
despatched to retake the brig. On approaching the shore
he found a force of 500 men drawn up to defend their
prize. The pirates on this daringly opened a hot fire of
musketry upon the steamer, which she returned with doses
of grape and canister, and quickly dispersed them. The
boats, under the command of Lieutenant Allen Gardner,
were then sent to bring off the brig, but as they got up to
her a gun opened fire on them, and the pirates returning
commenced blazing away from behind the rocks at them
and the ship, by which Lieutenant Wasey and seven men
were wounded. Lieutenant Gardner, notwithstanding, got
hold of the brig, and towed her to the Polyphemus, which
steamed off with her to sea.

The punishment inflicted on the Riff pirates was soon
forgotten, and they continued their depredations on British

SECOND WAR WITH CHINA. 423

commerce. In 1851 they captured the brigantine Violet
and the schooner Amelia, killing the masters and several
men among their crews, while the survivors were carried
into slavery. On information of the outrage being received
at Gibraltar the Janus, Captain Powell, started imme-
diately to punish the pirates. Both vessels were found
total wrecks on shore. The Janus could therefore only
retaliate by firing on the piratical boats, which she did,
totally destroying the whole of those seen. She afterwards
came in sight of another large pirate fleet. The boats
were sent on shore to destroy them, but the Riff people
collecting in overwhelming numbers, attacked them so
furiously that they were compelled to return to the ship,
Captain Powell himself and seven men being wounded.
The Violet's crew were, however, liberated.

CUar toitl) Cjjina,

(1856.)

The seizure of the Arrow, sailing under British colours,
by the Chinese, and their haughty refusal to make any
reparation, compelled the British minister at Canton to
apply to Sir Michael Seymour, commander-in-chief on the
China station, to try the efficacy of his guns in inducing
the commissioner, Yeh, to yield, to his demands. The
admiral's flag was flying on board the Calcutta, 84; he
had under him the Winchester, of 50 guns, the Sybil and
Pique, of 40, and the Hornet and Encounter, screw-steamers,
the first of 17 and the other of 15 guns, and three paddle-
wheel steamers and three sloops of war. He was in a short
time reinforced by the Sanspareil, of 70 guns, the Nankin,
of 50, the Amethyst, of 26, several screw-steamers, and a
considerable number of gunboats, well suited for navigat-
ing the Chinese rivers. The English admiral first sailed
up to Canton, and took possession of all its outer defences,
one of which, the Macao fort, situated in the middle of the
river, he garrisoned with a force of marines. The Barrier
Forts, armed with 150 guns, were stormed and captured,

424 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the guns spiked, and the buildings destroyed. These
proceedings, however, had no effect on Yeh, and he still
held out. Accordingly, bringing up other vessels, the
admiral ordered an attack on Canton itself. The ships
soon made a breach in the walls, when a body of seamen
and marines under Captains Elliott and Stuart and Com-
manders Holland and Bate stormed the place, and in a
short time the gallant Bate having scaled the walls at the
head of one detachment, waved the British ensign on the
top of the breach ; the gate of the city was blown open,
and in less than an hour Canton was in possession of the
British. The blue-jackets and marines abstained from all
acts of plunder, and treated the inhabitants so well that
they came fearlessly alongside the vessels, bringing fresh
provisions of all kinds. The admiral, not considering it
advisable to retain the city, withdrew his men, leaving
only a force sufficient for the protection of the factory. This
place the Chinese attempted to burn, and made every
effort to destroy the fleet with fire-rafts and enormous
explosive machines, some of which, it is said, contained
3000 pounds of gunpowder. They were invariably, how-
ever, towed clear of the ships. Yeh then one night sent a
fleet of 23 war-junks in the hopes of surprising the fleet.
Getting news of the intended attack, the admiral des-
patched the Barraconta with a fleet of boats under
Captain Wilson of the Winchester, the admiral himself
afterwards joining, and -in half-an-hour the whole of the
fleet was destroyed, with the exception of the admiral's
vessel, carrying 60 guns, which was brought off.

Still Yeh refused to yield, and Sir Michael therefore
attacked the Bogue Forts, which now mounted upwards of
200 guns, and the whole were captured with trifling loss
the mandarins having run away and deserted their men,
who began in their terror to throw themselves into the sea,
till they were persuaded by Captain Hall that they would
not be injured.

Meantime, the Chinese were beginning to repair the
Barrier Forts, which, as they commanded the river, the
admiral resolved to destroy. Two of them, the French Folly
and Dutch Folly, were successively attacked. Captains

BOAT EXPEDITION ATTACK THE CHINESE FLEET. 425

Wilson and Cochrane landing at the head of 850 seamen
and marines, stormed the latter, and blew up it and the
30 guns with which it was armed. The Dutch Folly
was garrisoned by 140 seamen, under the command of
Commodore Elliott, while, to protect the squadron, two
strong booms were thrown across the river, one above and
the other below it. This terminated the year 1856.

Early in the following year the Chinese having collected
a fleet of 90 large junks and 30 row-boats, advanced from
three different quarters, hoping to overwhelm the British
squadron ; but the ships, opening their fire, soon put them
to flight, when they were followed by the boats and several
more destroyed. For several months no active operations
took place. Unhappily, the Honourable Captain Keppel's
ship, the Raleigh, on her way to Hong-Kong, struck on a
rock and was totally wrecked. Sir Michael, however, gave
him command of the Alligator, and placed under him
the Bittern sloop and the hired steamers, Hong-Kong
and Sir Charles Forbes, attached to the Raleigh as
tenders. As soon as active operations were commenced, a
squadron of gunboats towing about 20 ship's boats, most
of them armed with a heavy gun, was despatched up the
Escape Creek in search of a large fleet of Chinese war-junks.
As soon as the Chinese saw them, they took to flight
up a shallow creek, where the gunboats pursuing them,
grounded; but the officers jumping into the boats, continued
the pursuit, when Commander Forsyth captured ten, and
Mr. Brown, mate of the Hornet, with a single boat's
crew, attacked and carried three large ones in succession.
Altogether, ten were taken and seventeen destroyed.

Several smaller expeditions were made with the like
success. Still, the main fleet of the Chinese remaining in
safety in Fatshan, the admiral resolved to lead against
it an expedition he had organised of 11 gunboats and
between 50 and 60 boats of the fleet, carrying 2000 men.
Each division of boats was commanded by the captains of
the ships to which they belonged. The fleet they were to
attack consisted of 80 of the largest junks, manned by 6000
of the best Chinese sailors and warriors. It was drawn up
under heavy batteries on either bank ; across the stream

426 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

50 junks were found moored side by side, the large guns
in their bows pointed down it. The admiral waited till
dead low water, the most favourable time for making his
attack, and he hoped that the junks would be unable to
move till he got up to them, while should any of his own
gunboats take the ground, they would soon again be afloat
with the rising tide. The Chinese had further strengthened
their position by sinking junks laden with stone, against
one of which the Coromandel, carrying the admiral's flag,
grounded. He, on this, landing with a party of blue-jackets
and marines, stormed one of the batteries, the garrison of
which soon took to flight. Meantime, the Haughty, the
leading gunboat, attacked the largest of the junks; her
crew jumping overboard, the example was followed by those
of the rest of the fleet, when the whole squadron was
immediately set on fire. Commodore Keppel attacked and
carried a second battery, and then sent his division of boats
against another squadron of junks. These having been
destroyed, he pushed on three miles till he saw before
him the main body of the largest junks moored compactly
across the stream with their heavy bow -guns pointing at
him. These opened so tremendous a fire that in a few
moments every boat was hit. The commodore's coxswain
was killed, and scarcely a man in the boat escaped. While
Lieutenant Prince Victor of Hohenlohe was engaged in
attending to a wounded man, a shot whizzed between him
and the commodore, and had he not been bending down,
he would have been killed. So full of water was the boat
that Keppel had to jump on the after-thwart to keep his
legs out of it, when another round-shot passed through both
sides of the boat scarcely an inch below him. At length,
as the boat was on the point of sinking, he and his com-
panions, taking the wounded men, got into one of the
Calcutta's boats. The rest of the flotilla had suffered in
the same way, and numerous officers and men had been
killed or wounded. The commodore, seeing that there was
little hope of success at that moment, ordered the boats to
retire, and the deck of the Hong-Kong was soon covered
with the wounded men brought on board. The fire of the
Chinese still reaching her, several more men were killed

CANTON TAKEN. 427

On board. The admiral, however, hearing the firing, had
sent up reinforcements, and Commodore Keppel, calling to
the rest of the boats to follow, again dashed forward in the
Raleigh's cutter, in a style which so daunted the Chinese
that, cutting their cables, they pulled away up the stream.
The British seamen cheered and, opening fire from their
big guns, were soon up to the sternmost junks. These were
quickly captured, their crews in many instances leaping
overboard. The rest were pursued for seven miles, till the
British boats found themselves almost in the middle of the
large city of Fatshan. Here the commodore landing put a
considerable body of troops to flight, and would have cap-
tured and held the town had not the admiral considered
the enterprise useless. He contented himself, therefore,
with towing away five large junks, the only portion of the
Chinese fleet which had escaped destruction. This success
was purchased at the cost of 84 men killed and wounded.
Chuenpee, further down the river, was next captured with-
out difficulty, for though considerably strengthened, so
disheartened were the Chinese that they did not attempt
to defend it.

Considerable reinforcements were now sent out from
England, including the Shannon, Captain W. Peel, the
Pearl, Sanspareil, and numerous gunboats ; but news
of the Sepoy mutiny having reached the admiral, he im-
mediately despatched them to Calcutta with a force of
Royal Artillery and other troops. During the eventful
struggle which ensued, the crews of the Shannon and Pearl,
formed into naval brigades, did good service. In November,
1857, the Indian mutiny being nearly quelled, operations in
China were recommenced. Yeh proved as obstinate as
ever, and to bring him to reason Canton was again attacked.
Besides 800 regular troops, the British force consisted of the
marines and 1550 blue-jackets, well trained to act on shore.
They were formed into three divisions under Captains
Stuart, Key, and M'Clure, the command of the whole being
confided to Commodore Elliott. The French, who had
now joined the English, had also a naval brigade of less
size. The smaller vessels and gunboats having arrived
before Canton, began and kept up a ceaseless fire on the

428 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE feRlTlSH NAVY.

walls as well as on the heights both inside and outside the
city, replied to by the cannon, jingalls, and rockets of the
Chinese. On the morning of the 29th the naval brigade
stormed and captured a large temple close to the walls, and
at daylight the artillery, which had been landed, opened
fire and soon effected a breach. The signal was now given
for the scaling parties to advance, and rushing forward with
ladders in hand they were quickly up to the walls. The
French had the honour of getting over first, not having
waited for the signal. The British seamen in different
directions were not long after them, Commander Fellowes,
of the Cruiser, being the first to mount. The Chinese
fought bravely, and many of the British seamen fell.
Among them was Captain Bate, of the Actceon, who was
killed while about to mount a scaling ladder. Captain
Key with his brigade seizing a battery turned its guns upon
the foe ; and division after division having got over, swept
the Chinese before them, till by nine o'clock the city was won.
So large was the city that it took some days before it could
be thoroughly occupied. Among those captured were Yeh
himself and several other mandarins of rank. As a punish-
ment for his conduct he was sent as a prisoner to Calcutta.
The whole loss of the allies was under 130 men killed and
wounded, the larger portion belonging to the naval brigade.
After this the fleet proceeded to the Peiho, at the mouth
of which stands the town of Taku, to which the emperor
had despatched a new commissioner named Tau, to negoti-
ate with Lord Elgin. As, however, Tau behaved exactly
as Yeh had done, the English and French admirals sent a
squadron to capture the forts which guard the entrance to
the river. They had been of late greatly strengthened,
and from the ditches and wide extent of mud spread before
them, were truly formidable. The force consisted of the
Cormorant, Commander Saumarez, the Nimrod, Slaney,
several French vessels, and a number of the smaller British
gunboats, Opossum, Bustard, Staunch. The two admirals
going up on board the Sidney. The Cormorant leading,
broke through a boom of great strength, passed across the
river, and various vessels quickly taking up their position,
opened their fire on the forts, Avhich, though defended for

EXPEDITION UP THE YANG'TSE KIANG. 429

some time, at length yielded, their garrisons taking to flight.
A squadron of gunboats, with the English and French
admirals on board, then made their way up to Tientsin, a
large city midway between Pekin and the sea. The
emperor, now fearing that his capital itself would be
attacked, came to terms. The fleet, however, remained
ready to compel him to keep to them, should he attempt
to evade fulfilling his engagements. In the meantime a
small squadron, consisting of the Retribution, Captain
Barker, the Furious, Captain S. Osborn, the Cruiser,
Commander Bythesea, the gunboat Lee, Lieutenant Jones,
and surveying-vessel Dove, Commander Ward, made a
voyage up the Yang'tse Kiang, 600 miles above Nankin, to
a city of importance called Hang-keo. From the shallow-
ness of the water the larger vessels frequently grounded,
and on passing Nankin, then in possession of a formidable
army of rebels, which attacked them, they had to fight
their onward way. At length the Retribution could
proceed no farther, but Osbom leading the rest reached
Hang-keo in safety. On their way back the larger vessels
again grounded, but being released by a flood, the whole
succeeded in returning to Shanghai.

Sir Michael Seymour returning home, was succeeded by
Admiral J. Hope, with his flag on board the Chesapeake.
Besides six larger vessels, he had under his command a
squadron of nine gunboats. Each boat was armed with
two long guns and two howitzers, and before they went
into action the admiral sent on board each from the
Chesapeake an additional 32-pounder and an organised
crew to work it. Those who knew the Chinese best were
very sure, as the result proved, that the emperor did not
intend to keep the terms of the treaty. Admiral Hope
arrived off the Peiho on the 8th of June, and as soon as he
attempted to ascend it for the purpose of proceeding to
Pekin to announce the arrival of the British ambassador,
he discovered that the forts had been greatly strengthened,
and that obstructions of all sorts had been placed across the
river. Strong booms had been carried from side to side,
and iron stakes driven into the bottom at intervals, reach-
ing within two feet of high-water mark. The Chinese

430 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVT.

having neglected to remove the obstructions, after the
admirals had waited several days, Mr. Bruce and the French
ambassador having arrived, the admiral sent in to say that
unless his demands were immediately complied with he
should force his way. A force of blue-jackets and marines
700 strong were told off to storm the forts, and the admiral,
shifting his flag to the Plover, led his squadron of gun-
boats, accompanied by those of the French, towards the
forts. During the night Captain Wills with three boats
had broken the first boom with barrels of gunpowder, and
pushing on, was examining the inner one, when the moon
rising revealed his position to the Chinese, who opened so
warm a fire on him that he was compelled to retire. The
plan proposed was to attack the works on the river side
with the gunboats, and the batteries being silenced, to
storm with the landing-party. The gunboats, as far as
they were able, took up the position allotted to them, but
from the shallowness of the water, the Starling and Ban-
terer got aground. No sooner did they open fire than the
Chinese began blazing away from a line of heavy guns,
which, in a short time, played havoc among them. The
Plover was almost knocked to pieces, and her commander
killed, 30 of her crew being killed or wounded, and the
admiral himself severely hurt. He, however, shifted his
flag on board the Opossum, whose commander was shortly
afterwards wounded, and her screw becoming fouled, she
drifted down the stream. On this Admiral Hope went on
board the Cormorant, and on her deck, lying in his cot,
issued his directions till overcome by loss of blood. Captain
Shadwell then took the command. The engagement con-
tinued with great fury on both sides, but the Lee and
Haughty were both nearly destroyed. The tide having
sunk several feet, the English guns produced less effect on
the fort than at first. At the end of four hours, however,
nearly all the Chinese guns on the left bank were silenced,
though those on the right still continued their fire. It was
determined, therefore, to storm the forts on that side, and
late in the evening the force destined for that purpose was
landed, led by Captains Shadwell and Vansittart and
Colonel Lemon, of the marines, and supported by Com-

LOSS OF GUNBOATS IN THE PEIHO. 431

manders Commerell and Heath. The gallant Captain
Tricault led a body of French, and the boats of an American
man-of-war assisted in landing the men. Scarcely, how-
ever, had they jumped on shore, unable to obtain the
slightest shelter, than the Chinese opened a tremendous
fire on them with jingalls, rifles, and muskets, and every
gun that could be brought to bear. In a few minutes
numbers were hit, Captain Vansittart was mortally wounded,
Captain Shadwell's foot was smashed, and Colonel Lemon
fell, severely hurt. The command now devolved on Com-
merell, who gallantly led forward his men ; but two ditches
and a wide extent of mud intervened between them and
the fort, and so thickly did the shot rain down on them
that, before they got twenty yards, 300 were killed or
wounded, and they were compelled to retreat — many
unfortunate fellows being suffocated in the mud. Of the
numerous vessels which had run on shore, all were got off
with the exception of the Cormorant, Plover, and Lee, which
were knocked to pieces to prevent them falling into the
hands of the Chinese. In this disastrous affair above 80
men had been killed and 350 wounded, many of whom
died from their hurts.

The Chinese were not allowed, however, for any length
of time to boast of their victory. The Peiho was again
entered, the town of Pehtang was occupied and the Taku
Forts again attacked from the sea and land. Though the
army lost a good many men in the operations, not one on
board the gunboats was killed. The booms across the
river were broken through, the iron stakes drawn, and
Admiral Hope pushing on in the Coromandel with a
squadron of gunboats, arrived before Tientsin, which yielded
to the first summons.

After this the duties of the steamers consisted chiefly
in conveying the heavy siege trains of baggage and pro-
visions for the supply of the army in the neighbourhood of
Pekin, when after his army had been thoroughly defeated,
and at the moment that his city was about to be stormed,
the emperor yielded to all the demands of the allies. The
emperor had acted with great treachery in the negotia-
tions for peace, imprisoning and torturing the English

432 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

envoys and escort, so as a lesson to him and his people, "his
celebrated Summer Palace was burnt to the ground, thus
showing them that had they thought fit Pekin itself might
have been treated in the same manner.

Bu00ian ([Oar*

(1854-55.)

Russia had shown her evident intention of laying violent
hands on Turkey, by destroying with a treachery unworthy
a civilized nation a Turkish squadron at Sinope, and Eng-
land and France being bound by treaty to protect the Otto-
man Empire, without delay each despatched a fleet into the
Black Sea. That of England was under the command of
Admiral Dundas, who had his flag on board the Britannia,
of 120 guns, his second in command being Rear- Admiral
Sir Edmund Lyons, whose flag flew on board the Aga-
memnon, of 91 guns, a name known to fame. The other
ships were the Trafalgar, of 120 guns, the Queen, of 116,
the Albion, 91, Rodney and London, 90, Vengeance, 84,
Bellerophon, 80, Sanspariel, 70, Arethusa and Leander,
50, Tribune and Curapoa, 31, Retribution, steam-frigate,
28, Diamond, 26, Terrible and Sidon, steam-frigates, 22,
High/Iyer, steam-sloop, 21, Furious and Tiger, 16, the
former a steam-frigate, the Niger, 13, and nine steam-
sloops. The French fleet consisted of 15 sail of the line,
and 21 frigates and smaller vessels.

From the first Admiral Lyons contemplated an attack
on Sebastopol, and in order to ascertain the strength of its
fortifications, Captain Drummond, of the Retribution, before
war was actually declared, was sent there with a despatch
for the Russian governor. He ran in during a fog, and
had brought up before even his presence was discovered.
Having sent his despatch on shore, he waited for an
answer, making good use of his time, and when it arrived,
having exchanged salutes with the governor, he stood out
again with the valuable information he had obtained.
Peace not having been actually broken, the Furious,
Captain Loring, Avas sent to Odessa to bring off the British
consul, or any British subjects who might wish to leave it.

ODESSA BOMBARDED. 433

As the frigate was receiving them on board, the garrison,
notwithstanding the flag of truce she carried, fired on her.
This treacherous conduct deserved a prompt punishment.
A fleet accordingly on the 17th of April sailed for that port,
offwhich they anchored on the 20th. The line-of-battle ships
could not get close enough to the walls, and a squadron of
English arid French steam-frigates under Captain Jones, of
the Sampson, stood in and delivered their broadsides.
Having done so, one after another in succession steamed
rapidly round out of gunshot, to return again and fire as
before. The Russian guns returned the compliment with
red-hot shot, which set the Vauban on fire. Captain
Mends, of the " gallant Areihusa" remembering the fame
of her name, though he had only his sails to depend on,
ran in as close as the depth of water would allow, and
opened a heavy fire from his 9-inch shell guns, and
repeated his manoeuvres till recalled by a signal from the
flag-ship. Ultimately some gunboats with rockets were
directed to try their powers ; at last flames burst forth from
several parts of the works, and at one o'clock the magazine
in the principal fort exploding cast destruction around.
The batteries having been now silenced, the squadron
stood closer in and destroyed most of the vessels which
had taken shelter behind the mole. Soon after the fleet
retired from before Odessa, the Tiger, which had been
stationed off the coast, ran on shore. While attempts
were being made to get her off the Russians brought down
a field battery, from which they opened so brisk a fire that
Captain Gifford, being mortally wounded, and several of
his men hit, he was compelled, in order to save their lives,
to haul down his flag.

Another visit to ascertain the strength of Sebastopol
was paid by Captain Tatham, of the Fury. Disguising
her like an Austrian packet, which he knew was expected
in the harbour, he boldly stood in on the 15th of May,
running past two brigs of war, and having sufficiently
looked about him steamed as calmly out again, hoisting
the British colours as soon as he had got out of shot.
While still in sight of the batteries he captured a Russian
schooner, and was carrying her off, when some frigates

2 E

434 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

getting under way, chased him and compelled him to
abandon his prize. The fleets now proceeded off Sebas-
topol, sending away some of their ships in order to induce
the Russians to come out and fight them. All their efforts
proved vain, and Sir Edmund Lyons scoured the Black
Sea till not a Russian vessel of any size remained on its
bosom.

Some months thus passed, when the army having been
collected at Varna, Sir Edmund Lyons, to whom the task
was intrusted by the commander-in-chief, embarked them
on board the transports destined for their reception. Ad-
mirably were the arrangements made, both for their
embarkation and landing on the shores of the Crimea.
Indeed, difficult as were both operations, they were carried
out without the loss of a man, and with that only of one
or two horses drowned. While the army marched towards
the Alma, the fleet proceeded along the shore. Some of
the steamers standing in, put to flight the few Russian
troops their guns could reach. For some time it was hoped
that the Russian ships would come out of Sebastopol and
give battle to the allied fleets ; but all hopes of their doing
so were lost when the Russians, having arranged some of
their finest line-of-battle ships across the harbour, scuttled
them, and their masts were seen slowly descending beneath
the surface. No hopes remaining of a naval engagement,
each ship supplied a contingent of men, who were formed
into a naval brigade, under Captain Stephen Lushington,
a body of the French seamen being employed in the same
manner. None of the brave fellows employed in the siege
performed a greater variety of duties, or behaved with more
gallantry, than did the British blue-jackets on shore.
They fought in the batteries, armed with some of their
own heavy ship's guns dragged up by themselves from the
shore, carried the scaling-ladders in many an assault,
assisted to land the stores, and were for some time the
principal labourers in forming a road between Balaclava
and Sebastopol. Led by the gallant Captain Peel, they
took an active part in the assault on the Redan, on which
occasion they lost 14 killed and 47 wounded. They, were
ever active in succourinsr those who had been left on the

BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL. 435

field of battle, whether blue-jackets or red-coats, and many
who might have perished owed their lives to their courage
and activity. During the engagement known as the Little
Inkerman, on the 26th of October Mr. Hewett, mate of the
Beagle, while in command of a Lancaster gun, was greatly
instrumental in the defeat of the Russians. Having
received a message by a sergeant from an officer, who
thought the battery would be taken in reverse, to spike his
gun and retreat, he replying that he only received orders
from his own captain, got his gun round to bear on the
Russians, and blowing away the parapet, poured his fire
down on them in a way which compelled them to abandon
their object.

As soon as the troops on shore were ready to open with
their batteries, the combined fleets prepared to perform
their parts in attacking the sea faces of Sebastopol. By
this time Admiral Dundas had given up the command of
the fleet to Sir Edmund Lyons, who, as before, directed ah1
the operations. The Agamemnon and Sanspareil were
the only line-of-battle ships fitted with screws, but there
were steamers sufficient to tow all into action, or to assist
them out again if necessary. The final arrangements were
made on the 16th between the English and French
admirals, when it was settled that the French and Turks
should attack the forts on the south side of the harbour,
and the English those on the north. Early on the morn-
ing of the 17th the order to weigh was given — the fleets
having been collected in Kazatch Bay, some distance to
the north of the city. The French and Turks, who formed
one line, naturally led ; the Britannia followed, close to the
Charlemagne, the rearmost of the French line. An in-
shore squadron had been formed, consisting of the Aga-
memnon, Sanspareil, and London, which was afterwards
joined by the Albion and other ships. The Britannia,
the most southern of the British ships, took up her position
opposite Fort Constantino ; next to her in succession were
the Trafalgar, Vengeance, Rodney, and Queen. The Aga-
memnon, piloted by Mr. Ball in the little steam-tender
Circassia, glided on till she was about 750 yards from
Fort Constantine, close to a shoal, which prevented her

436 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

nearer approach. The London, Sanspareil, and Albion
followed her, but were unable to get quite as near the fort
as she was. The admiral had warned Mr. Ball that his
little vessel would probably be sunk, and promised to keep
a boat ready to save him and his crew should she go down ;
but undaunted by the danger, he stood on amid a perfect
shower of shot arid shell, sounding as he went, till the line
was cut from the leadsman's hand by a shot from the
batteries; but another leadsman immediately took his
place, and the Circassia, without a man killed, though
frequently hulled, steamed out of harm's way. Imme-
diately the Agamemnon's anchor was dropped, she opened
her fire, as did the other ships in succession. Fortunately,
from being so close in, the Russian shot mostly passed over
her, as the guns had been trained for a longer range ; but
the ships to the north of her suffered considerably. Hap-
pily, one of the first shells she fired reached the powder-
magazine in the fort, which, blowing up with a tremendous
explosion, drove the Russians from their guns, and though
they again returned, it was to find that a large number of
them had been dismounted, while the upper part of their
works were crumbling to pieces from the effects of the fire
from the British ships. From their lower batteries, how-
ever, and from various forts on the heights, so hot was the
Russian fire, that the Albion and London, terribly shat-
tered, were compelled to haul off. The Sanspareil also
brought up so close to the Agamemnon as to be unable
to use her foremost guns, and had to get under way to take
up a better berth, and for a time the Agamemnon stood
the brunt of the battle in her part of the line. The Sans-
pareil, however, again quickly came to her support, and
the Albwn, having repaired some of her damages, returned ;
but as the London was unable to do so, the admiral
signalled to the Rodney, the Queen, Bellerophon, and
Arethusa, to come to his assistance. A short time after-
wards the Queen, set on fire by a shell, was compelled to
retreat, and the Rodney got on shore at the end of the
bank ; but a large portion of her crew having joined the
naval brigade, she had but few men on board, and there-
fore fought only her main-deck guns, and though in so

EXPEDITION TO KERTCH. 437

exposed a position, escaped with comparatively little loss.
For five hours the whole fleet kept up perhaps the most
tremendous cannonade that has ever been fired from
British or any other ships, when night coming on, the
Agamemnon made the signal for the fleet to retire, she
herself being the last to leave her station. Though during
that time the upper portions of some of the Russian
batteries had been knocked away, and a large number of
people killed and wounded in them, the furious cannonade
which had been so long kept up produced no result to
compensate the British for a loss sustained of 44 killed and
266 wounded, besides the damages received by many of
the ships, two of which, the Albion and Areihusa, had to
go to Malta to be repaired. Though the French ships
suffered more than ours, they lost under 200 men killed
and wounded. The steamers had gallantly performed their
part in towing the ships in and out of action, notwith-
standing the showers of shot and shell directed at them.
Altogether, the admirals came to the conclusion that it was
useless attempting to batter down the stone walls of the
fortifications, or to again expose their ships to such a fire
as they had that day endured.

A portion of the allied fleets still remained before Sebas-
topol, and harassed the garrison by sending into the har-
bour two fast, strongly-armed steamers night after night,
which, always keeping in motion, fired their shot into the
city, and rapidly steamed out again before the enemy could
get their guns to bear on them. On one of these occasions
the admiral's son, while directing the course of his vessel,
was so severely wounded that he died shortly afterwards.

During the winter months of 1855 no operations were
undertaken by the fleet, but as soon as the finer weather
allowed the ships to navigate the Black Sea, an expedition
sailed for Kertch, a town of importance at the extreme
eastern point of the Crimea, containing immense magazines
of corn, with which from thence the beleaguered garrison
was supplied. Just as the expedition was sailing, however,
Canrobert, who had supreme authority over the French
naval forces, forbade Admiral Brueys from proceeding, and
Sir Edmund magnanimously gave up the enterprise for a

438 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

time at the earnest request of his colleague. A fortnight
afterwards, however, General Pelissier succeeding Canrobert,
authorised the French admiral to proceed in support of the
English. An overpowering fleet accordingly sailed towards
the entrance of the Sea of Azov. As soon as the ships
appeared off Kertch, the Russians blew up their fortifica-
tions without firing a shot, and evacuated the place. The
only officer who had an opportunity of distinguishing him-
self was Lieutenant M'Killop, commanding the Snake, of
4 guns. Perceiving a Russian steamer in the offing, he
obtained leave to chase her, which' he did till she got
under the forts of Yenikale, when both fort and steamer
opened their guns on him. Undaunted, he returned the
salute, throwing his shells upon both his opponents, and in
three-quarters of an hour set the steamer on fire. He
was still blazing away at the fort, when three other steamers
were seen approaching, and they also, as he refused to run,
began to attack him, the guns of each one of them being
of heavier calibre than his. He continued engaging them
till assistance sent by the admiral arrived, when the whole
of the Russian vessels were captured.

While the larger ships proceeded in various directions
along the coast, a squadron consisting of the smaller vessels
and gunboats were sent into the Sea of Azov, under Cap-
tain Lyons, of the Miranda, to attack the numerous stores
of corn and other provisions accumulated at different spots
along the shores. On the return of the Miranda to
Sebastopol, Captain Lyons was succeeded by Commander
Sherard Osborn in the Vesuvius. Although the duties
imposed on the squadron were not apparently of a very
heroic character, they were attended with a considerable
amount of risk, and were carried out in a most spirited and
gallant manner. In several places the magazines and
stores were protected by large bodies of the enemy, who
fought courageously in their defence, but were invariably
defeated by the determination and activity of the British
seamen. Taganrog and other places were protected by
heavy batteries, which, however, did not prevent the little
squadron from attacking them and coming off victorious.
For many months the steam-vessels were thus employed

OPERATIONS IN THE SEA OF AZOV. 439

moving about from one place to another. Wherever they
were least expected, the officers landed with parties of men,
and did not hesitate to proceed either up the rivers or some
way inland wherever they gained intelligence that store-
houses existed, and in no instance failed to set them on fire.
Many hazardous and gallant acts were performed. In
this way the squadron were of the most essential service
to the allies, and by almost depriving the garrison of
Sebastopol of their means of support, were mainly instru-
mental in the reduction of the great fortress. In a short
time scarcely a Russian trading- vessel on those waters had
escaped destruction or capture. The vessels of the squad-
ron were everywhere, and often, when espied by troops of
Cossack cavalry from the shore, there would be a race
between them and the vessels who should first arrive at
the store-houses, which the latter had destined to destruc-
tion, while the steamers' long-guns played on the Cossacks,
and generally sent them galloping away inland out of range
of fire, so that when they reached the store-houses they
found them burnt to the ground. One of the last places
attacked was Gheisk, in the neighbourhood of which,
extending for fully four miles along the shore, were col-
lected in huge stacks quantities of corn and hay; while
close to the town, under the protection of its batteries,
were large piles of timber, cured fish, numerous boats, and
naval stores of all descriptions. The place was protected
by a strong force of infantry and cavalry. Notwithstand-
ing, Captain Osborn proceeded to attack it with the gun-
boats Grinder, Boxer, Cracker, and Clinker; but the
shallowness of the water would allow them to get only
just within range of the batteries. The squadron was,
however, supplied with a number of large boats which
could carry heavy guns, and these he brought close in to
the shore in order to cover the landing-parties, distributing
them in four divisions, under Commander Kennedy and
Lieutenants Ross, Day, and Strode, with directions to land
at intervals of a mile from each other, and then driving
the Russians before them to set fire to the stores. To
protect the stores, the Russians had thrown up light breast-
works along the whole of their front, but they were not

440 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

such as to arrest British blue-jackets for a moment.
Fortunately, the wind blew directly on shore, and thus as
soon as the boats opened fire the smoke was driven in the
faces of the enemy. The seamen quickly landing, not-
withstanding the warm fire with which they were received,
drove the Russians before them, and the stacks being at
once ignited, the dense volumes of smoke which arose from
them completely concealed the movements of the British,
whose only object being to destroy the corn and hay, did
not follow the enemy. Success attended every one of the
operations ; in a little more than six hours every stack was
blazing, as were the piles of timber, the boats, naval stores,
and dried fish, under the protection of the batteries at
Gheisk — the whole work being accomplished with the loss
only of five men wounded.

To prevent the escape of any of the Russian ships on
the fall of Sebastopol, the allied squadron brought up
across the harbour, when the enemy having already sunk
the remainder of their line-of-battle ships, set fire to all
their steamers, thus with their own hands destroying the
whole of their fleet. The English and French fleet then
sailed for Kinburn, standing on the shore of a shallow bay
full of shoals. On their way they appeared off Odessa, in
order to mislead the Russians, and then proceeded direct
for their destination. The troops, consisting of 5000
British, and a large number of French, were landed on the
15th, and some of the gunboats stood in, and began firing
to distract the garrison. The roughness of the sea, how-
ever, prevented the ships from commencing the grand
attack till the 17th. The smaller steamers and gunboats
then advanced, circling round and delivering their fire in
rapid succession, silencing the Russian guns, killing the
men, and forcing them to take refuge under ground. About
noon the line-of-battle ships, English and French, entered
into action in magnificent order close to the batteries,
while a squadron of steamers, led by Sir Houston Stuart
and the French rear-admiral, approached the forts on the
northern side, and began pouring in their broadsides.
Not for a moment was there a cessation of the thundering
roar of the guns, while the whole fleet and doomed fortress

FLEET SAILS FOR THE BALTIC. 441

became shrouded in dense wreaths of smoke, the gunboats
on the other side keeping up their fire with fearful effect.
The fire from the French floating batteries, which had
lately been sent out at the suggestion of Napoleon, was
most effective, while their power of resistance was fully as
great as had been expected, the heavy shot by which they
were frequently struck falling harmless from their iron
sides, while the shells shivered against them like glass.
The bombardment from the larger ships had continued
scarcely a quarter-of-an-hour when a white flag was seen
flying from the ramparts as a token of submission, and as
if by magic the firing ceased. In a short time afterwards
the old Russian general appeared to deliver up his sword,
and he and a large staff of officers, who were permitted to
retain their swords, became prisoners.

The Russians themselves blew up Oczakov, which was
to have been attacked, while Sir Houston Stuart led a
squadron up the Boug, and destroyed a battery on its
shore. Had not the Russians soon afterwards come to
terms, not a place of importance on their southern coasts
would have been left in their possession.

£Dperation0 in tfje 'Baltic*

While one British fleet was attacking the Russians on
the southern shores of their empire, another of still greater
power was sent up the Baltic to prove to them that no
part of their coasts was safe. Great results were naturally
expected from it, and, indeed, England had never before
sent so really powerful a fleet to sea — not on account of
the number of the ships, but from their means of inflicting
injury, most of them possessing steam power, while their
guns were more effective than any which had before been
used. The fleet consisted of the Duke of Wellington, of
131 guns, Neptune, St. George, and Royal George, 120,
St. Jean d'Arc, 101, Princess Royal, James Watt, Nile,
and Majestic, of 91, Caesar and Prince Regent, of 90,
Monarch, 84, Gressy, 80, Boscawen and Cumberland, 70,
Edinburgh, Hogue, Blenheim, and Ajax, of 60, Imperieuse

442 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and Euryalus, of 51, and Arrogant, of 46, besides frigates,
sloops, and numerous paddle-steamers, the whole under
the command of Admiral Sir Charles Napier. Gallant
and energetic as he had always proved himself, he was now
sixty-eight years of age, and those who knew him best
feared too truly that his energies had begun to fail him,
and that he would have acted more wisely by remaining
on shore. The French also sent a considerable fleet to
take part in the operations. The first portion of the fleet
entered the Great Belt on the 25th of March, and proceed-
ing to the Gulf of Finland, established a rigorous block-
ade. Napier then, moving towards Helsingfors, prevented
a junction of the two portions of the Russian fleet, while
in the meantime Admiral Plumridge, scouring the Gulf of
Bothnia, captured a large number of merchantmen.

One of the first exploits in the Baltic was performed by
Captain Yelverton, of the Arrogant, and Captain W. H.
Hall, of the Heda, who, running up a narrow creek, made
their way to the town of Ekness, eight miles from the sea,
where, after a sharp engagement with some batteries, they
carried off a large merchant- vessel under the noses of the
enemy. The fleets then appeared off Cronstadt, the ap-
proaches to which had been carefully surveyed by the
indefatigable Captain Sulivan, of the Lightning, but the
strength of the fortifications induced the admirals to
believe that it would be useless to attack it, and they in
vain endeavoured to tempt the Russian fleet to come out
and give them battle. Bomarsund was the first place of
importance assailed. It was attacked on the land side by
the English artillery and French troops, as well as by the
English and French marines, with a brigade of seamen
who were landed after a fort which was in their way had
been blown to pieces, while thirteen ships of the allied
fleet assailed it from the sea. The ships directed their fire
against a large circular fort mounting nearly 100 guns,
with a garrison of 2000 men, when the shot soon shattered
the huge masses of stone, which literally crumbled away
before them, and in a short time the garrison, seeing that
resistance was useless, yielded, and Bomarsund was taken
possession of. It was, however, said that the works,

CAPTAIN LYONS IN THE WHITE SEA. 443

though apparently strong, had been constructed by con-
tract, and were therefore less able to withstand the shot
hurled against them than the other fortresses which
Russia possessed on her seaboard. Still, if such was the
case, it does not detract from the praise due to those who
had made the attack. The whole fortress was forthwith
blown up, with the exception of one portion, which was
allowed to stand for a few days to enable the Edinburgh
to try some of her heavy guns against it, and it was finally
levelled with the rest of the works.

The winter season coming on, compelled the fleet to
return to England. Whatever may be said of the gallant
old admiral's conduct during the war, it was acknowledged
that the crews of his ships, though inexperienced when
they set sail, returned in a high state of efficiency.

While these proceedings were taking place in the
Baltic, in order as much as possible to annoy the Russians
in all portions of their vast territory, a small British squad-
ron, consisting of the Eurydice, Captain Ommaney, the
Miranda, Captain Lyons, and the Brisk, Commander Sey-
mour, were sent into the White Sea, where, though they
found it impossible to attack Archangel, they destroyed
several government establishments. The Miranda also,
steaming up the river Kola for thirty miles, attacked the
capital of Russian Lapland, of the same name, and, with
her yardarms almost over the walls, set the city on fire and
destroyed most of the public buildings and magazines. In
spite of the hot fire with which his ship was assailed from
the batteries, Captain Lyons returned from his gallant
enterprise without losing a man, and, after capturing a
fleet of merchant-vessels, rejoined Captain Ommaney.

The most unfortunate event of the whole war occurred
on the Pacific coast, when a small English and French
squadron, in attempting to take a number of Russian
vessels anchored off Petro Pauloffsky, they were driven
off, while by bad management the whole of the Russian
vessels escaped.

The following year Admiral Dundas, being appointed to
the command in the Baltic, sailed in the Duke of Welling-
ton, of 130 guns, with Rear- Admiral Sir Michael Seymour

444 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

as his second in command in the Exmouth, of 90 guns,
and numerous other line-of-battle ships, block-ships, and
smaller vessels, nearly all fitted with the screw, and up-
wards of twenty gunboats. At the end of May the fleet
arrived off Cronstadt, when the two admirals, going on
board the Merlin, which, under the command of Captain
Sulivan, had been actively surveying that and other
places in the Baltic, stood in to examine the works and
the Russian fleet protected by them. They were not long
in coming to the conclusion that the place, if not impreg-
nable, would be most difficult to assail, while it was ascer-
tained that a vast number of torpedoes had been placed in
all directions in the shallow waters over which the ships
must pass. Many had been put down in the preceding
year, but, though looked for, none had been discovered ;
this year, however, several were fished up, and one was
brought on board the Exmouth, when, while Admiral
Seymour and his officers were examining it, it exploded in
their midst. Though the admiral was wounded, as were
several other officers and men, not one was killed. The
Merlin, also, while passing over a shallow, exploded two,
one of which drove in her side, breaking or disabling
everything in that portion of the ship, though, happily,
without committing any further damage. The greater
number discovered had not been properly set, and thus had
become injured from various causes. The boats, by care-
fully creeping wherever they were likely to be placed,
ultimately discovered nearly the whole which it was sup-
posed had been laid down. Very different would have
been the result had they been constructed as torpedoes are
at the present day, when in all probability many of our
ships would have been destroyed.

The Russian fleet kept securely within their fortifications
while the English and French remained off Cronstadt.
All intention of attacking it being abandoned, the allies
proceeded in different directions. The smaller vessels
cruised off the coast, destroying all the government maga-
zines and stores they could reach, and capturing innumer-
able merchant-vessels ; while the admirals were preparing
for an attack on the fortress of Sveaborg, which had been

BOMBARDMENT OF SVEABORG. 445

considerably strengthened since the preceding year. It
stands on three islands, round the whole circumference
of which the works form an almost unbroken line, and
within them are vast arsenals full of all descriptions
of warlike stores ; while in front of the fortress lies a
cluster of rocky islets. The passages between these" islets
had been carefully surveyed by Captain Sulivan, and on
each of those nearest the fortress, rnortar batteries were
now placed, while the mortar-boats formed in a line out-
side them. The gunboats and mortar-vessels in different
divisions were directed to stand in among the islets, where
there was sufficient room for their movements, while the
whole were covered by the frigates, which took up their
stations outside. Some of the principal buildings in the
fortress had been selected as targets, and so well had Cap-
tain Sulivan placed the mortar-vessels, that the shells
thrown from them fell exactly on the spots at which they
were aimed, as was ascertained by the cloud of smoke
which rose from each. Hitherto it had been considered
necessary not to fire more than seven shots in an hour
from a mortar, but Captain Wemyss, who had charge of
the mortar-vessels, considering that should such a plan be
adopted, the enemy would have time to extinguish the
flames they produced, determined to allow a much less
interval to elapse, and sent no less than thirty shells an
hour from each mortar. The gunboats were in the mean-
time performing their part, moving rapidly in circles, each
boat firing as she brought her guns to bear on the fortifi-
cations. Besides their ordinary armament, each vessel had
received on board from the line-of-battle ships a 10-inch
gun, and two of them, the Snapper and Stork, had been
armed with long Lancaster guns. These were detached to
attack a large three-decker at anchor between the islets,
and so furious a fire did they open that flames several
times burst out from her, while in a short time nearly
seventy of her crew had been killed. The Russians, with
their numerous guns, fired away rapidly in return. Though
the gunboats were within range, their small size and
quick movements made them difficult marks to hit, and
only one or two were struck. The batteries thrown up on

446 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the small islets were throwing shells at the same time,
while the Arrogant, Cornwallis, Hastings, and Amphion
attacked the Drumsio and Sandham batteries, and kept
them amply employed. About noon, some shells fell into
several powder magazines, which blew up with successive
explosions, casting huge fragments of masonry and number-
less shells into the air, proving the destruction which had
been produced. The bombardment continued during the
whole day, and not till sunset did Admiral Dundas with-
draw the gunboats, or till some time afterwards the
mortar-vessels, when the boats of the fleet, armed with
rockets, were sent off to attack Vargon and the other prin-
cipal islands, under Captain Caldwell, of the Duke of
Wellington. Thus fearfully the unhappy garrison were
annoyed during the whole night, and at daybreak the
gunboats and mortar- vessels again began to play on the
batteries. The mortars, however, were so considerably
worn by the firing of the previous day, that one or two
burst, and none were so effective as before. East Svarto,
which had before escaped, was now attacked by a division
of English and French mortar-boats, placed by Captain
Sulivan considerably nearer the fortifications than they
had hitherto ventured. Their fire was replied to by some
heavy guns, which the enemy had brought up, but no
damage was received from them. In a short time, dense
columns of smoke and forked flames ascending in all direc-
tions showed that the buildings, magazines, and arsenal
were being destroyed, and when night came on, one
unbroken sheet of flame ascended from the fortress. To
prevent the enemy from attempting to extinguish it, the
rocket-boats were again sent in, and effectually performed
their object. The conflagration continued, raging all
night, and on the morning of the llth there was no sign of
its abatement. The admiral was therefore satisfied that
the work he had undertaken was accomplished, and as the
Russians had ceased to fire, he discontinued the action.
The whole of the operation had been accomplished without
the loss of a single man killed, and scarcely 16 in the
British fleet wounded ; but the slaughter among the
unfortunate Russians was prodigious. Of one whole regi-

TERMINATION OF THE WAR WITH RUSSIA. 447

ment but few had survived, and at Vargon and Svarto a
large number of the garrison had been killed. Had shells
not been used, and an attempt simply been made to
destroy the fortress with the ships' heavy guns, the
allies would probably have been driven away with severe
loss, without making any impression on its massive walls.
It was the first time in the history of war that shells had
been thrown from a distance at which the besiegers could
not be reached by the enemy's shot, or that shot had been
discharged from vessels moving at so rapid a rate as to
render it scarcely possible for the besiegers to strike them.
These circumstances, with the use of torpedoes, showed
that a new era in marine warfare had commenced, and that
from henceforth the style of fighting which had existed
down to the period of Algiers and Navarino was about
entirely to be changed.

No other operation of importance was undertaken, and
the winter approaching, the admiral sent home the sailing-
vessels and gunboats, though he did not finally quit Kiel
till the first week in December, when soon afterwards the
whole fleet arrived safely in England. Happily, the
various reverses he had experienced induced the Emperor
of Russia to see the hopelessness of continuing the war,
and to sue for peace.

CHAPTER XX.

0Iar

(FKOM A.D. 1839 TO A.D. 1876.)

| HE expeditions to the Pacific before the time of
Captain Cook had been undertaken rather
for the sake of plunder than for scientific
objects. His three voyages were performed
by officers exclusively of the Royal Navy
and fitted out by the Admiralty, and should therefore be
noticed ; but space is wanting. The next voyage was under
the command of Captain Vancouver, the discoverer of the
important island named after him, now a possession of
Great Britain, followed by the voyages of Captains Byron,
Beachey, and others ; but these also must be passed over.
Among the services rendered by Cook to his country and
the world at large, none, perhaps, are of greater importance
from the means he took to preserve the health of his crews
by the introduction of lime-juice and other anti-scorbutics,
by ventilating his ships and keeping the sleeping-places
and clothes of his men as dry as possible.

A short sketch must, however, be given of the expedi-
tion to the Antarctic Pole, under Captain James Ross,
between the years 1839 and 1843, in the Erebus and
Terror, the first ship commanded by himself, the latter by
Commander F. R. Crozier. They were accompanied by
several officers who have since become known as Arctic
explorers. The Erebus was a bomb of strong build and
capacious hold, of 370 tons ; the- Terror was of 340 tons,
and had three years before been strengthened to send to
Baffin's Bay to assist a number of British whale-ships
detained there. Each ship carried in all fifty-four persons.
448

EXPEDITION TOWARDS THE SOUTH POLE. 449

After touching at Madeira and the Cape, they reached
Kerguelen Island, where a series of important magnetic
observations were taken, and from thence reached Tas-
mania, of which colony Sir John Franklin was then
governor. Here he and Captain Crozier met each other,
little thinking that they were both ere many years were
over to perish together in their gallant effort to reach the
North Pole. The two ships sailing thence in November,

1840, proceeded to the Auckland Islands, where further
magnetic observations having been made, they sailed due
south, and crossed the Antarctic circle on New Year's Day,

1841. Soon afterwards they met a pack consisting of
loose ice and bergs, forming albeit 200 miles in width, and
hitherto considered impenetrable. Waiting till a gale
which had been blowing moderated, the Erebus forced her
way through the pack, closely followed by the Terror,
often receiving shocks which would have proved de-
.structive to ships less prepared to withstand them, but
they succeeded in getting through the pack without
injury. They now steered as due south as the wind
admitted for the magnetic pole, supposed to be situated
about 76° south latitude. Land, however, ere long
appeared, with towering peaks, one named Mount Sabine
rising nearly 10,000 feet above the ocean at a distance of
30 miles from the coast. The glaciers extended many
miles into the sea, and dark headlands indicating by
their colour the volcanic origin of the land, while mountain
ranges were seen far away to the north-west. Along this
land, which trended to the south, they forced their way,
coming in sight of a volcano in full activity, 12,400 feet
high, which was named Mount Erebus. The whole coast
from the extreme western point presented a vertical cliff
200 or 300 feet high, In which not the smallest fissure
could be discovered. The cold was much more severe
than in the North Seas, and though it was now the middle
of the Antarctic summer, the thermometer did not rise
above 14° at noon. With difficulty escaping being beset,
the ships' heads were turned northwards, and on the 4th
of March they recrossed the Antarctic circle. On the
7th., during a strong breeze, the ships became involved in

450 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

an immense chain of bergs, so closely packed as to show
no opening. The waves broke violently on the bergs,
dashing huge masses of ice against their precipitous faces,
from which they were thrown in a multitude of fragments.
For eight hours the vessels had been drifting towards
what appeared inevitable destruction, the high waves and
the heavy rolling of the ships rendering towing with the
boats impossible. No human effort could be made to
avoid the doom which seemed to await them, when within
half-a-mile of the range of bergs where they could hear
the roar of the surf and the crashing of the ice, most
providentially a favourable breeze sprang up, which before
dark enabled them to get out of danger. Hence they
returned to Tasmania ; having here refitted the ships, they
visited Sydney and New Zealand, and then crossing the
180th degree of longitude, they once more reached the
main pack. They forced their way in, but had advanced
250 miles without seeing any prospect of its termination.
Still, they continued to bore through the ice, though at a
slow rate ; but on the 17th of January a heavy swell came
on, followed on the 19th by a terrific gale, when the sea
quickly rising to a fearful height and breaking over the
loftiest bergs, the ships were unable any longer to hold
their ground, and were driven into a heavy pack under
their lee. Soon after midnight they were involved in an
ocean of rolling fragments of ice, as hard as rocks, which
were dashed against them by the waves with such violence
that the masts quivered as if they would fall at every
successive blow, and it seemed scarcely possible that the
ships could hold together against the tremendous shocks
they received. The rudder of the Erebus was soon so
shattered as to be useless, and that of the Terror was
completely destroyed. Throughout the twenty-eight hours
during which they were in this awful jeopardy, the cool-
ness, steady obedience, and untiring exertions of each
individual were every way worthy of British seamen.
Each man secured his hold, waiting the issue with resigna-
tion to the will of Him who alone could preserve them in
safety through such extreme danger. At midnight the
snow, which had been falling thickly for some hours,

DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AMONG THE ICE. 451

cleared away, the wind shifted to the westward, and the
swell began to subside. Driving their ships into the
thickest of the pack for shelter, they repaired the rudders,
while in spite of the thumping they had received, both were
found to be nearly as tight as they were before the gale.

They had to encounter a still more terrific danger. On
the 5th of March, after passing a chain of stupendous
bergs, they recrossed the Antarctic circle, when, during the
night, a large berg, previously concealed by the thickly
falling snow, suddenly appeared directly ahead of the
Erebus. At the moment of trying to weather it, the
Terror was seen running down upon her, and as it was
impossible for her to clear both the bergs and the Erebus,
a frightful collision ensued. The bowsprit and other spars
of the Erebus were carried away, and the ships, en-
tangled by their rigging, and dashing against each other
with fearful violence, were drifting down upon the wea-
ther-face of the lofty berg under their lee. Providentially
they separated before becoming entangled among the
foaming breakers, and the Terror passed on and cleared
the end of the berg in safety. The Erebus was left com-
pletely disabled so close to the berg, that the waves as
they dashed against it threw their spray over the ship.
It was three-quarters of an hour before she could be
extricated from this awful situation, when another huge
berg was seen directly astern of her. She passed, how-
ever, in safety through the narrow channel between those
two perpendicular walls of ice, and reached smooth water
to leeward. Having repaired their damages, they pro-
ceeded to the Falkland Islands, where they spent the winter,
and, for a third time, made an attempt to reach the great
southern land, which, from the dense character of the ice,
they were compelled to abandon. After visiting the
Cape, they sailed homewards, and came safely to an
anchor on the 4th of September.

The acquisitions to natural history, geology, geography,
and above all, towards the elucidation of the grand
mystery of terrestrial magnetism, raised this voyage to a
pre-eminent rank among the greatest achievements of
British courage, intelligence, and enterprise.

452 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Of still greater interest and importance are the voyages
which have been undertaken towards the North Pole since
the reign of Edward the Sixth, when the gallant Sir
Hugh Willoughby, with his brave followers, sailed forth
to Nova Zembla, never to return. Years had passed by,
when some Russian seamen discovered on the dreary
shores of Lapland, to their astonishment, two large ships,
on entering which they found them tenanted by lifeless
crews, the brave commander in his cabin, with his journal
before him, and even food on the table; but the bittei
cold having entered, had seized him and all on board in
its death-grasp. His voyage, however, though under royal
patronage, cannot be considered as a naval expedition.
The most important of that character during the last
century was organised by the Earl of Sandwich, the com-
mand being given to Captain John Phipps. He sailed
with two bomb-vessels, the Racehorse and Carcass, the
latter under charge of Lieutenant Lutwitge, with whom
went young Horatio Nelson in the capacity of his cox-
swain. Among the numerous appliances for the comfort
of the crews, the vessels were provided with an apparatus,
lately invented by Dr. Irving, for distilling fresh water
from the sea. The expedition quitted the Nore on the
4th of June, 1783, and, at first, great hopes were enter-
tained of its success, but the ships were so closely beset
by the ice, that Captain Phipps had determined to aban-
don them, when, the pack opening, all sail was set and a
way forced into the open sea.

On the termination of the long war, the desire to dis-
cover a north-west passage revived, and in 1818 two ships
were fitted out by the Admiralty, the Dorothea, of 382
tons, Captain Buchan, and the Trent, 249 tons, placed in
charge of Lieutenant and Commander Franklin, who was
accompanied by Lieutenant Frederick W. Beachey, an ex-
cellent artist, and Mr. George Back, a mate. They made a
desperate attempt to push through the ice to the north-
ward of Spitzbergen. Captain Beachey has given an
interesting account of the voyage. Every effort was made
to break through the dense pack of ice, which presented
one continuous line of furious breakers, in which vast

VOYAGES TO SPITZBERGEN. 453

pieces of ice were heaving, and falling, and dashing to-
gether with tremendous violence, creating so terrific a
noise that the officers could with difficulty make their
orders heard by the crew. " If ever the fortitude of sea-
men was fairly tried, it was assuredly not less so on this
occasion," writes Beachey, "and I will not conceal the pride
I felt in witnessing the bold and decisive tone in which
the orders were issued by Captain Franklin, and the
promptitude and steadiness with which they were exe-
cuted by the men. The Trent, flying before the gale, was
hove into the midst of tumbling masses of ice, literally
tossed from piece to piece. The crew had nothing left
but patiently to abide the issue, for they could scarcely
keep their footing, much less render any assistance to the
vessel." So severe were the injuries the ships had re-
ceived, that Captain Buchan determined to return home,
though Captain Franklin earnestly entreated to be allowed
to proceed in his own vessel with the still unexecuted
work.

In 1823 Captain Claveriug, in the Griper brig, at-
tempted to push northward along the coast of Greenland,
but was compelled to return.

In 1827 another expedition was fitted out for Spitzber
gen, under the command of Captain Parry, in the Hecla,
who was accompanied by Ross, Foster, Beard, and Crozier,
all since well known as Arctic explorers. An attempt was
made to reach the North Pole by dragging boats over
the ice, which it was found impossible to penetrate in the
ship, but the party was compelled to return, and reached
the ship in safety, having been away 61 days, and travelled
over upwards of 1000 miles. During the whole period
they were perfectly free from sickness.

In the meantime, in 1818, Captain John Eoss commis-
sioned the Isabella to sail through Davis' Straits. She
was accompanied by the Alexander, commanded by Lieu-
tenant Edward Parry. Captain Ross, after making a
cursory examination of Smith's and Jones' Sounds, came
off Lancaster Sound, which he mistook for a large bay
without an opening, and, much to Parry's disappoint-
ment, sailed home without accomplishing anything of

454 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

importance. Next, year, however, the Admiralty sent out
the Hecla and Griper, under the command of Lieutenant
Parry, who was accompanied by Lieutenant Beachey, one
of his midshipmen being James Clarke Ross, hereafter to
gain fame as an Arctic explorer. Captain Parry, sailing
into Lancaster Sound, pushed through a strait, which he
called after Sir John Barrow, and then turned southward
into Regent Inlet, afterwards discovering Wellington
Sound and Melville Island. After encountering many
dangers the ships got into winter quarters on the 23rd of
September, cutting a channel two-and-a-half miles in
length, through which they were hauled. They were
then unrigged and secured for the winter. The admir-
able way in which he employed and amused his people,
thus contributing towards the maintenance of their health,
has since been followed by many other officers who have
wintered in Arctic regions. During the winter several
excursions were made in various directions, with sleighs
drawn over the ice by the men, while the officers carried
their own knapsacks, guns, and ammunition. Some of the
people on these occasions suffered from snow-blindness,
though they otherwise kept perfectly well.

On his return to England, Parry was sent out on a
second voyage in 1821, in command of the Fury, Captain
Lyon having charge of the Hecla. On this occasion he
received orders to proceed to Hudson's Straits, and to
endeavour to make his way westward through Repulse
Bay. They were, however, compelled to take up their
winter quarters in Fox's Channel, in a harbour to which
the name of Lyon Inlet was given. Here, as on the pre-
vious occasion, a school was kept, plays were acted, and
other means taken to amuse the men. A vast number of
Arctic animals were seen, and excursions were made over
the ice. On the 2nd of July, after being frozen in for 267
days, they at length put to sea, and both vessels were very
nearly lost amid the ice. They mercifully escaped ; and
Parry was on the point of sending the Hecla home and
remaining out in the Fury another year, when the scurvy
breaking out, he was compelled to abandon his design.

He undertook a third voyage in 1824, on this occasion

COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE OF THE " GRIPER'S " CREW. 455

selecting the Hecla, while Commander Hoppner was
appointed to the Fury, Captain Lyon having charge of the
Griper gun-brig, with directions to proceed through Hud-
son's Straits. Soon after entering the straits, the Griper
met with a terrific gale, when she brought up with four
anchors, it being expected every moment that she would
drive on shore. Captain Lyon's description of the scene
shows the admirable discipline of his crew. "No boat
could live in the tremendous sea then running, and though
scarcely a hope remained of their saving their lives, each
man performed his duty with his accustomed coolness.
The crew were ordered to put on their warmest clothing ;
each brought his bag on deck and dressed himself; and in
the fine athletic forms which stood exposed before me I
did not see one muscle quiver, nor the slightest sign of
alarm. Prayers were read, and they then all sat down in
groups, sheltered from the wash of the sea by whatever
they could find, and some endeavoured to obtain a little
sleep. Never, perhaps, was witnessed a finer scene than
on the deck of my little ship, when all hope of life had left
us. Noble as the character of the British sailor is always
allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it
possible that among forty-one persons not one repining
word should have been uttered."

Mercifully, the tide, which had been ebbing, fell no
lower, and the brig was saved, but her crippled condition
made it necessary for her to return to England.

Meantime the Hecla and Fury had entered Lancaster
Sound, but got no farther than Port Bowen, on the eastern
shore of Prince Regent Inlet, where they took up their
winter quarters. On the 19th of July they again got to
sea, but three times the Fury was driven on shore, and
the last time it being found impossible to get her off, she
was abandoned ; while from the crowded state of the Hecla,
it became necessary for her to return to England.

Captain John Ross, anxious to retrieve his character as
an Arctic explorer, fitted out a little vessel at his own ex-
pense, the Victoria, and sailed in her in 1829, taking with
him his nephew, Commander John Ross; but after explor-
ing those seas for two years, she was frozen in, and having

456 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

spent the third winter, he and his companions made their
escape in their boats, when, after a long and hazardous
journey, they fell in with the Isabella whaler, of Hull.

Several years passed by after this, when Sir John Frank-
lin, having returned from Tasmania in the spring of 1845,
undertook to command an expedition which the Admiralty
had determined to send to the North Pole. The Erebus
and Terror, which had shortly before come back from a
voyage to the Antarctic Pole, were commissioned, Sir John
taking command of the Erebus, while Captain Crozier was
appointed to the Terror. The officers of the Erebus were
— Commander Fitzjames ; Lieutenants Gore, Le Vesconte
and Fairholme ; mates, C. des Vaux and Eobert O'Sargent ;
master, Collins; surgeon, Stanley; assistant-surgeon, Good-
sir ; paymaster, Osmer ; 58 petty officers and men ; full
complement, 70. The Terror: Lieutenants Little, Hodg-
son, and Irving ; mates, Hornby and Thomas ; master,
Maclean ; surgeon, Peddie ; assistant- surgeon, M'Donald ;
purser, Helpman ; 57 petty officers and seamen ; full com-
plement, 68.

The expedition sailed from England on May the 26th,
1845, and arrived off Disco on the 4th of July, when the
store-ship, commanded by Lieutenant Griffiths, parted
from them, and brought the last letters they sent home.
On the 26th of the same month they were seen by Captain
Dannett, of the Prince of Wales, moored to an iceberg.
From this time no news was received of their progress ;
though, as they were not expected home till the close of
1847, no anxiety was felt till that time had passed by.

In the spring of the following year twro expeditions were
despatched to search for them, one under Dr. Richardson,
R.N., who made his way overland towards the Arctic
Ocean from the Hudson's Bay territory ; the other by Sir
James Ross, who sailed in the Enterprise, with Lieutenants
M'Clure and M'Clintock — the Investigator, which accom-
panied him, being commanded by Captain Bird. The ships
having in vain endeavoured to pass through Wellington
Channel, were blocked up in Leopold Harbour, whence
expeditions were sent out with sledges to a considerable
distance, but no traces of the missing ships were found.

EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN. 457

On their return the next year, the Enterprise was placed
under the command of Captain Collinson, and the Investi-
gator under that of Commander M'Clure, who were
directed to make their way through Behring's Straits. On
their passage they were joined by the Herald, Captain
Kellett, and the Royal Thames Yacht Club schooner
Nancy Dawson, owned by Mr. Shedden. A land expedi-
tion was also sent out under Dr. Rae.

The following year, 1850, Captain Austin in the
Resolute, Captain Ommaney in the Assistance, with the
screw-steamer Pioneer, Lieutenant Sherard Osborn, and
Intrepid, Lieutenant Cator, were sent up Barrow's Straits
towards Melville Island. Three private expeditions sailed
at the same time ; one, under the command of Mr. William
Penny, consisted of the Lady Franklin and the Sophia ;
another, the Prince Albert, fitted out chiefly at the ex-
pense of Lady Franklin, was confided to the care of Com-
mander Forsyth. Sir John Boss fitted out the Felix
yacht, with a tender, the Mary, at his own charge ; and
the Americans sent the Advance and Rescue, under Lieu-
tenant De Haven. Several of these vessels met ultimately
at the southern extremity of Wellington Channel, where
undoubted evidence was obtained of the direction first
taken by Sir John Franklin, but to what point he had
afterwards steered could not be discovered. Most of them
wintered in the Arctic regions, but after in vain exploring
for the missing ships in all directions, returned to England
in 1851.

Most of them went back the next year, under the com-
mand of Sir Edward Belcher. In the meantime the Inves-
tigator and Enterprise had entered Behring's Straits, where
Captain Kellett, who had been ordered to return home, left
them making their way eastward. He had now been ap-
pointed to the command of the Resolute, and sailed under
Sir Edward Belcher. The Enterprise and Investigator un-
dauntedly made their way along the north coast of America.
Captain Collinson got to within a short distance of the very
spot where the Erebus and Terror, as it was afterwards dis-
covered, had been beset, where he spent his third winter.
In one of his exploring expeditions he found a cairn, erected

458 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

by Dr. Rae, in latitude 70° 3' north, and longitude 101° west.
Captain Collinson indeed was really in, though unable to get
through, the north-west passage. After passing a fourth
winter in the ice, his ship escaped by the way she had come,
and he and his officers and crew arrived safely and in excel-
lent health in England. The Investigator, Captain M'Clure,
which had taken a different course farther to the north,
penetrated to Bank's Strait in the summer of the second
year ; so he had every hope of reaching Barrow's Straits,
when a heavy barrier of ice barred his progress, and after
having been only five days under way, he was compelled
to get into winter quarters. On one of the expeditions he
made he discovered a fragment of sandstone on which was
inscribed " His Brittanic Majesty's ships Hecla and Griper,
Commanders Parry and Liddon, wintered in the adjacent
harbour during the winter of 1819-20 ;" and on the same
sandstone Lieutenant M'Clintock, who had visited the spot
the previous year, had left a notice of his visit. Here,
also, Captain M/Clintock had deposited his own despatches,
stating the direction he intended to take, and that he
should certainly visit Port Leopold, begging that should no
account of his visit be found there, further efforts to rescue
him might not be made, as by the period that any vessel
could reach that port, he and all with him must have
perished.

Not only for that winter, but for the whole of the
following summer, was the Investigator shut up in her icy
prison, the ice having only for a few hours begun to
separate, and then closed down upon her, never again to
open. That third winter was unusually severe, but the
health of the crew was maintained, and Captain M'Clure
had determined to send a portion of them home in a boat
through Baffin's Bay, when towards the end of March a
stranger was seen approaching the ship. He proved to be
Mr. Pirn, first-lieutenant of the Resolute, who had been
with Captain Kellett in the Herald, and who was the very
last person with whom Captain M'Clure had shaken hands
before the Herald returned through Behring's Straits.
Lieutenant Pirn explained that he had crossed the frozen
sea from Melville Island, 170 miles off, where he had

SHIPS ABANDONED.

459

left the Resolute. Captain M'Clure immediately set off
with a party of officers and men to visit her, and it was at
once arranged that a portion of the crew should be sent
home, while the most healthy should remain to endeavour
to extricate their ships. The Investigator's crew spent
their winter on board the Resolute, but both ships, as well
as the Assistance and Pioneer, being frozen in, Sir Edward
Belcher decided on abandoning them. The officers and

LIEUTENANT PIM MEETING M'cLURE.

men being received on board the North Star, all arrived
safely in England. Captain M'Clure received the honour
of knighthood, and £10,000 was granted to H.M.S. Investi-
gator as a reward. The Resolute, as it may be remem-
bered, was afterwards discovered afloat by an American
whaler, and being completely refitted, was courteously
restored by the United States Government to the English.
The report brought home by Dr. Rae. and numerous

460 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

articles collected by him, which had evidently belonged to
the officers and men of the Erebus and Terror, left no
doubt of their fate, and that they had abandoned their
ships in attempting to make their way overland into the
Hudson's Bay Company's territories, but had all perished.
Still, Lady Franklin hoped against hope that some might
have escaped, and having purchased the little screw-
steamer Fox, of 177 tons, placed her under the command
of Captain M'Clintock, who had with him Lieutenant
Hobson, R.N., Captain A. Young, of the mercantile marine,
Dr. Walker as surgeon, and Mr. Carl Peters as interpreter.
Having sailed from Aberdeen on the 1st of July, 1857, she
was beset by the ice in Melville Bay, whence, getting free
in April, 1858, she reached Kennedy Harbour, Bellot's
Straits. Hence expeditions were sent out, one of which,
under Captain M'Clintock and Lieutenant Hobson, reached
the west coast of King William's Island, separated only by
a broad channel from the mainland of America. Here
they fell in with some Esquimaux, who possessed numerous
articles evidently obtained from the Erebus and Terror.
Soon afterwards they discovered a boat on the shore,
within which were the skeletons of two of her hapless
crew, and that of another a short distance off. At length
a cairn was discovered containing a paper with the
announcement of Sir John Franklin's death in 1847, and
the statement written at a subsequent period by Captain
Crozier that the ships had been beset, and that all hope of
their being liberated having now been lost, he had aban-
doned them in 1848, with the intention of proceeding with
the surviving officers and crew towards the south into the
territories of the Hudson's Bay Company up Fish River.
Thus was the long-existing mystery in all its melancholy
details cleared up. Had not Captain Crozier and Fitz-
james been induced by a high sense of duty to remain by
their ships, in the hopes of extricating them, for nearly two
years after Sir John Franklin's death, they might have had
strength sufficient to succeed in the plan they ultimately
adopted, of making their way overland ; but in discharge
of that duty they yielded up their brave spirits, noble
examples of the naval officers of Great Britain.

LAST POLAR EXPEDITION.

461

Many of the difficulties which have hitherto beset the
navigation of the Arctic seas have been overcome by
steam, the strength which science has applied to the
vessels, and numerous contrivances both for facilitating
their progress and maintaining the health of their crews :
but sufficient remain to make an expedition to the North
Pole one of no ordinary kind.

To the brave explorers sent out by the people of the
United States, we are indebted for the increased know-
ledge we possess of the geography of the Arctic regions.

THE "POI-IBIS."

The little Polaris, under the brave Hall, though her
voyage ended disastrously, acted as a pioneer up Smith's
Sound at the northern end of Baffin's Bay, the only
practical inlet to the Polar Basin probably, if not the only
outlet. We now look forward with the deepest interest to
the result of the last Polar Expedition which left our shores,
consisting of H.M. ships Alert and Discovery, which sailed
from Portsmouth on the 29th of May, 1875, accompanied
by the Valorous, which last ship was to fill them up with

462 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

provisions, stores, and coals, at the island of Disco, and
then to return home.

The expedition was placed under the command of Cap-
tain Nares, who sailed in the Alert, of which Commander
Markham is the commanding officer. These two were the
only officers of the expedition who had previously crossed
the Arctic circle.

The Discovery was commanded by Captain Henry
Stephenson ; her first lieutenant being Lieutenant Lewis
A. Beaumont.

All the officers of the expedition were selected for their
scientific and other attainments, as were the crews for
their bodily strength, their experience in Arctic regions,
and their general fitness.

The ships were well suited for the undertaking, both
being screw steamers, and were furnished with numerous
appliances to enable the officers and men to endure the
rigours of an Arctic winter ; as well as with sledges, boats,
and other means for pushing forward exploring parties
during the spring till the ships themselves could advance.

After touching at Ban try Bay they proceeded across the
Atlantic, meeting with unusually bad weather. The first
ice was seen on the 27th of June. Two boats were destroyed
and the gear severely tried. On the 6th of July the Alert
and Discovery anchored in the harbour of Godhaven, at
the southwest end of Disco, where they found that the
Valorous had arrived two days before them. They
remained here till the 15th of July, engaged in filling up
with coals, stores, and provisions, and nine sheep, from the
Valorous, besides which the Alert took on board twenty-
four dogs, supplied by the Danish Government, with an
Esquimaux who had engaged as dog-drover, and brought
the dogs and his "kayak" on board, and a large net for
catching white whales.

Passing one of the most magnificent of icebergs, they
anchored off Ritenbeak, where the Discovery received
twenty dogs.

On the 16th of July, after warm farewells had been
uttered, the Valorous parted from the two exploring ships
on her homeward voyage; having reached TJpernivik on

VOYAGE OF THE " PANDORA." 463

the 21st, where Hans, another Esquimaux, was received
on board, the two ships proceeded northward. Every
arrangement had been made for saving the lives of the
people on board should the ships have been nipped in
passing through the ice ; but, happily, no such misfortune
occurred, and on the 25th of July, they got clear of the
pack, and entered the north water of Baffin's Bay, reaching
the Gary Islands on the 26th of July. From those islands
information of their proceedings up to that time has been
received.

The Discovery was ordered to winter in about latitude
82° north, while the Alert was to winter in 84°, or as much
further north as she could get, keeping on her passage close
to the shore.

In the spring, sledging expeditions were to be made to
ascertain the trending of the coast.

In May, 1876, the Pandora, under the command of
Captain Allen Young, R.N.R., sailed for the entrance of
Smith's Sound to communicate with the Expedition. It
is possible that even in the autumn of 1876, or more likely
in that of 1877, the Alert and Discovery may have com-
pleted their perilous, but glorious, mission, and find their
way safely home.

CHAPTER XXI

of |hittsjr

| HE typical British seaman of the last war was
a brave, dashing, harum-scarum fellow, ready
to fight at any odds, fearless of danger, active
and intelligent in all relating to his duties,
with nerves of iron, self-confident, wielding
his cutlass, pistol, or boarding-pike with a ready hand, fond
of his grog, eager for prize-money, and utterly thoughtless
of the immediate or eternal future. He was supposed to be
gentle as a lamb, assisting the defeated enemy and treating
him as a brother, willing to share his last guinea with a
friend, utterly ignorant of everything connected with the
land, guileless himself, but easily beguiled by others, spend-
ing his short time on shore with women, throwing his
money about with a lavish hand, dancing, singing, and
getting drunk, till he was handed over by the crimps to a
press-gang and shipped off to sea again, to spend another
term of four years without setting foot on terra firma
till the end of the time.

Such was undoubtedly the character of a large majority
of the seamen who fought England's battles for a long
course of years; but there were exceptions. Some were
steady, sober, well-conducted men, who became wan-ant or
petty officers, and were occasionally placed on the quarter-
deck, and having saved their prize-money settled down
with a competency on shore, but of the latter, I suspect.
there were lamentably few. There were others discharged
from the jails, smugglers and other desperate characters,
with disqualified attorneys, cashiered excisemen, dishonest
404

SEAMEN OF FORMER DAYS. 465

clerks, and not a few arrant rascals of all descriptions, who
were the leaders of mutinies and other acts of insubordina-
tion, which the iron discipline of the service alone kept
down — though not always successfully, as was shown by
the mutiny at the Nore, the horrible murders on board
the Heiwione, and the outbreaks which occurred from
time to time on board other ships. The seamen of those
days, too, were cruelly treated, badly fed, plundered when
afloat and on shore, their spiritual and moral interests
disregarded ; indeed, utterly uncared for by the authorities
— though many of their own officers from time to time did
their best to improve their condition by treating them
with kindness, when they never failed to win their affection
and confidence. One who knew and loved them well, and
did his utmost to ameliorate their condition, Admiral Sir
Edward Parry, speaks of them as they were in his younger
days as "a degraded class of men, standing lamentably
low in the scale as moral and accountable beings." It is
true that they were very much the same then as they are
now, in their active and hardy habits, their endurance of
fatigue, and their contempt of danger. These qualities
have always been the acknowledged characteristic of the
British seaman, and will, we may hope, long continue to
be so. "If," he says, "you beheld the British seaman
close-reefing the main-topsail in a severe gale, or furling
it in a hurricane ; constructing a raft from a hopeless
wreck in the midst of the most fearful breakers, or dashing
in a slender six-oared gig to board an enemy's vessel ; you
saw, indeed, a specimen of dogged perseverance, of daring
intrepidity, of cool unflinching determination, such as, I
believe, the world could scarcely equal ; certainly such as
nothing could excel. But, behold him apart from any of
these trying duties — the gale abated, the enterprise
achieved, the battle won; behold him returned into
harbour, landing at some sea-port, his hard-earned wages
in his pocket, and the man abandoned to his own devices —
there was little in him left to admire or imitate — almost
everything, alas ! to deprecate and deplore. The reckless
folly, the more than childish extravagance of lighting his
pipe with one-pound notes, or forcing a handful of silver

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAtt.

into the palm of the first beggar he met on the beach,
might well excite a smile upon the gravest countenance.
But reckless folly and childish extravagance were not the
most deplorable delinquencies with which the seaman on
shore might be charged. A slave to drunkenness and
every other sensual passion which tends to degrade and
defile the body and to destroy the soul ; rushing headlong
into the wildest excesses, abandoning himself to the
indulgence of every sin ; he became an easy prey to the
vilest of both sexes, who are always lying in wait to pounce
upon the warm-hearted and unguarded sailor."

I speak of those days when dashing frigates came
weekly in with rich prizes in tow, or ships were paid off,
each man of their crews receiving £100, and often more
for pay and prize-money. Over the saturnalia, which then
took place it were well to draw the veil. Harpies of both
sexes, such as Sir Edward speaks of, preyed on Jack until
they had fleeced him of his last shilling. They were
allowed in shoals to assail him, even on board his ship.
Dancing saloons where the wildest orgies took place were
open to welcome him; liquor shops were open at every
turn, and if he escaped these attractions, he had recourse
to all sorts of eccentric means to spend his rhino. Number-
less are the tales of his adventures on shore. If of an
unsocial disposition, he would charter a coach and four, and
in solitary grandeur drive about the country, refusing to
take change for his guineas at the inns where he stopped
for refreshment, and scattering his silver among the boys
on the village green — but generally Jack was fond of
company, and it was no unusual spectacle to see a dozen
or more carriages driving up Portsmouth High Street, or
through Plymouth, loaded with stalwart seamen seated
inside or perched on the roof, singing and shouting with
stentorian voices, and deeming themselves the happiest of
mortals. More frequently Jack delighted to display him-
self rolling along with massive chain pendant from his fob,
rings on his fingers, love-locks and ear-rings, handkerchief
tied loosely round his neck, and open shirt collar, as ready
to treat all he met as to quarrel with any who interfered
with him. Not one but hundreds of jovial fellows, either

JACK ASHORJS. 46*7

just paid off or liberty-men, were often to be seen thus
enjoying themselves among numerous visitors come to
welcome or bid farewell to friends collected in Portsmouth
or other seaports, naval and military officers hurrying to and
fro, Jews with their wares, coaches driving in with red-
coated guards, long horns and blunderbusses slung behind,
post-chaises dashing along with despatches, or captains
about to join their ships.

Among the tales told of seamen, was one which shows
their simplicity, and at the same time their eagerness to
succour those in distress. On one occasion an enterprising
manager of the Portsmouth Theatre had introduced a piece
well calculated to interest his audience. In the course of
the drama, a black-bearded pirate was about to carry oft'
the heroine, when her cry for help so moved the gallant
tars, that with loud cheers, springing from the pit over the
heads of the orchestra, they boarded the stage, the pirate
dropping his captive, and narrowly escaping with his
life.

On another occasion, when Shakespeare's " Othello " was
the piece, a generous and indignant tar seized the stage
representative of lago, saying, " I've had my eye on you for
some time, you villain ! "

Enormous were the sums received in prize-money, and
though in most instances that money was speedily squan-
dered, some few took better care of their cash. Among
these it is on record that a seaman of the Alcment frigate
remitted a hundred guineas of his prize-money to a girl to
whom '%e was engaged, though, unfortunately, he did not
get out of Portsmouth before he had been robbed of the
larger portion of the remainder. Others sent home their
money to their friends, or deposited it in banks ; but Jack
generally mistrusted the banks. One peculiarly sagacious
seaman, not knowing what to do with his cash, rammed it
down the muzzle of a large gun, which with a companion,
then stood near Norwich Street, Portsmouth. On his
return some years afterwards, he found the money safe. But
though Jack was wont to enjoy unbounded license and
freedom on shore, it was but for a brief space. He
with truth —

468 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

" 'Twas in the good ship Rover,

I sailed the world around ;
For full ten years and over

I've ne'er touched British ground.
And when at length I landed,

I did not long remain —
Found all my friends were stranded,

So went to sea again."

He had, indeed, but few friends and many foes. Land-
sharks, in every possible guise, laid wait for him. Did he
wish to take a spell on shore, the press-gang was on the
watch for him ; crimps had their dens in every seaport,
and even in the surrounding villages, into which he was
beguiled, to be betrayed when his money was expended, or
he had run up a score which his advanced wages would not
cover. A dozen or twenty stout fellows would be thus
stowed away in fancied security, when an armed press-gang
would surround the house, burst open the doors, and, after
a desperate fight and not a few broken heads, capture the
whole of them. Good sailors were often scarce ; ships had
to be manned ; however, in most instances some able sea-
men were secured. If the captain was popular, volunteers
came in ; if not, the rest of the crew was made up of the
class I have before described.

Every effort was made when the war with the French
first broke out to obtain seamen. At first the Government
tried persuasive measures, and all sorts of allurements were
held out. Each port was required to supply a quota of
seamen according to the population. Among others, 731
seamen were demanded of Hull. It became the interest
of the citizens to find them. A grand procession was
formed, consisting of the aldermen and principal members
of the Trinity House, with most of the merchants, ship-
owners, twenty-one of the commissioners for executing the
act, the boys of the Trinity House School, with a band, and
all the sailors who could be collected carrying flags. In
their midst they had a model vessel, handsomely painted,
gay flags flying from her mast-head, fixed on a carriage.
On board her were six seamen, who, as she was dragged
along, distributed ale and biscuits to the populace, while
they invited all true-hearted British seamen to join the

PRESS-GANGS. 469

navy as volunteers. An immense crowd followed, endea-
vouring to excite the patriotic feelings of their nautical
fellow-townsmen. The effort, however, does not appear to
have been very successful. Jack, though too often easily
deceived, was not as much attracted by the display as had
been hoped, and the following year advertisements were
issued " for a number of brave fellows to serve in the navy
in defence of the British constitution against French
perfidy." As the latter invitations failed also to produce
the desired effect, press-gangs were set to work, who carried
on their proceedings with very little regard to law or
justice. The party consisted of a couple of officers and twelve
men, known as the Hull press-gang. Their business was
to prowl about the streets and visit the public-houses,
both by day and night, and to seize every sailor they could
lay hands on.

Early in the present century the gang, among other
natives of Hull, contained a noted character named Jem
White, who was especially hated by the populace, in con-
sequence of having frequently given information respect-
ing the whereabouts of seamen with whom he had been
formerly acquainted. On one occasion, his lodgings were
attacked by a crowd, consisting principally of women, vowing
his destruction. White, having due notice of the intended
attack, stood cutlass in hand at the top of the stairs, de-
fending himself until a strong body of soldiers from the
main-guard arrived, and dispersing his assailants, conducted
him in safety to the tender, the women shouting and
hooting at him for the whole distance.

When seamen were not to be picked up in Hull itself,
the gang would frequently make excursions on the high-
roads, where they would stop the coaches, and seize any
seamen who might happen to be passengers. One summer
day, having stopped a coach, they dragged from the roof a
gallant tar, who, not aware of their custom, was hoping ere
long to be with his friends safe in town. Being armed
with a stout stick, he showed fight, shouting out for help
till nearly overpowered. As it happened, a number of
women were haymaking in the neighbouring field; seeing
what was going forward, armed with their hayforks, they

470 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

came to the rescue, and, furiously attacking the gang, put
them to flight. The brave Amazonians then placed the
seaman in a carrier's waggon which at that moment came
up, and, shouldering their hayforks, escorted him into the
town.

A short time after this, a sailor, who was passing over
the North Bridge, was suddenly seized by the press-gang,
who sprang out upon him. They were dragging him along,
believing that they had him fast, when he slipped his arms
out of his jacket, and leaving it in their hands, ran as fast
as his legs could carry him down Bridge Street, hotly pur-
sued by those who wished to make him prisoner. At that
time a number of navvies were at work on the old dock-
basin, and uniting with a mob which had already collected,
they attacked the gang and allowed the sailor time to
escape. Still, the press-gang were not willing to be dis-
appointed of their prey, and fighting as they ran, they
made chase, but failed after all in catching the fugitive.
In vain they applied for assistance to the civic authorities,
and were glad at length to make their way with whole
skins to their several homes. So exasperated, however,
had the mob become, that they proceeded through the
town till they reached a public-house called the " Ship's
Glory," the rendezvous of the press-gang. Here, having
procured a spar thirty feet in length from a neighbouring
yard, they used it as a battering-ram, with which they
knocked in the whole front of the building, tossing the
ale-casks and spirit-kegs into the street, and throwing the
furniture into the river. In vain was the Riot Act read ;
the mob, now increased by a number of sailors, refused to
disperse till they had completely wrecked the whole of the
house.

About the same period, as the shipwrights were one
evening leaving their work from a neighbouring ship-yard,
one of their number was seized by the gang. His fellow-
workmen flew to his assistance, and a regular fight between
them and the press-gang took place. While it was going
forward, the man who had been seized, breaking from his
captors, leaped into the Humber Dock, hoping to swim on
board one of the vessels, and to effect his escape. His.

ABOMINATIONS OF THE SYSTEM. 471

manoeuvre was perceived by two of the press-gang, who also,
leaping after him, swam off in the hopes of recapturing
him. The shipwright, however, was a sturdy fellow, and
seizing one of the gang's-men by the throat, held him with
an iron gripe, while the other gang's-mau, attempting to
save him, beat his antagonist over the head with one
hand, supporting himself by striking out with the other.
Meantime a furious contest was taking place on the quay
between the press-gang and the shipwrights. The battle
in the water continued to rage with the utmost fury, and
there appeared every probability that the three men
would lose their lives. At length, however, some sailors
from a neighbouring vessel put off in their boat, and,
taking part with the shipwright, hauled him on board in
a very exhausted state, allowing the two gang's-men to
make their way back to the shore as best they could.

So liable were shipbuilders at that time to lose their
men that they found it necessary to obtain protections for
their labourers from the Lord High Admiral. The form
of document is addressed to all commanders and officers
of his majesty's ships, requiring them not to impress into
his majesty's service a certain number of shipwrights and
apprentices employed in such and such yards.

Not only were seamen pursued on shore, but they were
liable to be pressed out of the vessels on board which they
were serving. At that time a vessel of war, which was
called the inner guard-ship, lay off the town, while
another, known as the outer guard-ship, was moored a
few miles down the Humber at White Booth Roads, and
sometimes other ships were stationed in the mouth of the
Humber. The boats of these ships boarded the merchant-
vessels as they entered the port, and took off from them,
often when returning from long voyages, every man that
was liable to be pressed. Merchant-vessels were often
also boarded at sea, and allowed to make their way to
port with their diminished crews. Among others, the
Sarah and Elizabeth, of Hull, homeward bound from
Davis' Straits, when off St. Abb's Head, was boarded by a
boat sent from the Aurora frigate with a party directed
to impress all the best men out of her. Her crew^ on

472 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

seeing the boat approaching, determining not to be seized,
sought shelter below, and fastened down the hatches. The
seamen of the Aurora, however, forced them off, and the
whaler's crew refusing to come on deck, the marines fired
down and killed one of them, when they yielded, and
fifteen were at once carried off on board the frigate, the
Aurora's crew carrying the whaler up to Hull. The
coroner's jury which sat on the dead man brought in a
verdict that he was wilfully murdered by Captain Essing-
ton and part of the crew of the Aurora. The Admiralty,
however, removed Captain Essington to a 74-gun ship,
which was immediately sent off to the East Indies, and
before he returned the matter had blown over.

A more serious affair occurred in 1798, when the
Blenheim whaler, which had just returned from Green-
land, as she was about to enter the harbour saw two boats
from the Nonsuch and Redoubt men-of-war, stationed
there as guard-ships, approaching her. The ships fired
several shot at her to bring her to, but her crew, determin-
ing not to be impressed, secured the master and pilot in
the cabin to prevent their interference. They then steered
their ship for the entrance of the harbour, but she unfor-
tunately took the ground. The boats now got up to her,
the men-of-war's men attempting to board ; but her crew
having armed themselves with long knives and whale-
spears, as well as firearms, defended their vessel with the
greatest desperation. Several shots were exchanged, and
for some time the hardy crew of the whaler kept their
assailants at bay, though the latter were joined by another
boat sent by the Nautilus sloop of war, which had shortly
before come to an anchor in the roads. Each time that
the men-of-war's men attempted to climb up the whaler's
sides they were driven back, one of the crew of the
Nonsuch having two fingers cut off while attempting to
board. Several other men-of-war's men were desperately
wounded, two of whom afterwards died in the hospital.
So determined was the resistance made by the crew of the
Blenheim that the boats were at length compelled to
return to the ships with the wounded men. Not a single
man on board the Blenheim was hurt, and as soon as the

SUFFERINGS ENDURED BY PRESSED MEN. 473

men-of-war's boats retired, having effected their object, the
whaler's crew made the best of their way to the shore to
avoid the consequences which would have ensued had they
been captured. All this time the neighbouring shores
were crowded with spectators witnessing the struggle,
who, as may be supposed, gave every assistance to the
whaler's crew to effect their escape. The captain of the
Blenheim was, however, captured and taken to York
Castle, and at the following assizes was tried for the
murder of the men-of-war's men ; but he was acquitted,
and on his return to Hull was received with rejoicing by
the populace, who cheered him through the town. The
man who lost his fingers having remained in Hull, was
ever afterwards known as Three-fingered Jack.

In earlier years press-gangs were guilty of the most
lawless proceedings. In 1755 a bill of indictment was
found at the Old Bailey sessions by the grand jury of
London, against " a lawless body of men for riotously and
with armed force entering the dwelling of Mr. William
Godfrey, citizen and cooper of London, a man of known
substance and credit, and in open defiance of the laws, for
seizing him, knocking him down, and dragging him
through the public streets of London with only one
of his slippers on ; and for forcibly carrying him on
board a tender on the river Thames, and closely con-
fining him amongst a large body of other persons in
the hold of the vessel for twelve hours, where he was
almost suffocated ; to the scandal of all government and
in derogation of the rights and privileges of the citizens
of London."

Here was a man of known substance and credit seized.
What must have often been the fate of the unhappy people
who, without friends, had no means of protecting them-
selves. Yet numberless were the instances of a similar
character which occurred. The nation knew that men
were wanted for the fleet, and those who did not person-
ally suffer, selfishly allowed such abominable practices to
continue for many years without taking pains to put a stop
to them. The above instances are examples of what
occurred throughout the kingdom. We can only wonder

474 POPULAE HISTORY OF THE BPJTISH NAVY.

that ships so manned were able to go to sea, or to fight
when they encountered an enemy. The iron discipline
which prevailed, and the courage and determination of the
officers in most instances ere long brought them into order,
and even the pressed men, the smugglers and jail-birds,
were as ready to fight as the old hands for the honour of
the British Hag.

No wonder that insubordination prevailed, notwith-
standing the fearful punishments inflicted.

Some grievances were redressed, but matters were not
really amended. After the mutiny at the Nore, court-
martials continued to be held on board the Gladiator at
Portsmouth. Tyrannical captains had still unlimited
power. In 1800 a large number of men were hanged at
Portsmouth for having participated in the horrible mutiny
on board the Hermione. The infliction of two or three
dozen lashes was a common occurrence on board ill-manned
or ill-officered ships. Many of the more severe punish-
ments are on record. John Brown, for writing a letter
reflecting on the character of two officers, received a hun-
dred lashes through the fleet. Thomas Hilton received
five hundred lashes, and Arthur Hughes for desertion,
three hundred ; and shortly afterwards, three hundred
men having deserted from their ships in Portsmouth Har-
bour within three months, as a warning to the rest,
Thomas Macarthy, who had three times been convicted of
the offence, was, being considered incorrigible, sentenced
to be hanged. Others shared the same fate.

A flogging through the fleet was a most terrible punish-
ment. The culprit, naked to the waist, was rowed slowly
in a boat, lashed to a grating, from ship to ship, a fifer
playing the " Rogue's March," accompanied by a muffled
drum. On reaching a ship, the boat was made fast, the
sentence of the court-martial was read aloud, after which
two boatswain's mates stepped down and gave the prisoner
a certain prescribed number of lashes. A blanket was
then thrown over the man's shoulders, and the same scene
was repeated alongside every ship in the fleet. The horrid
ceremony sometimes occupied several hours, and death was
often the consequence. The punishment could still bq

INGENIOUS SUBSTITUTIONS FOR FLOGGING. 475

inflicted as late as the year 1844; for when our fleet was
in China, two seamen who had deserted were condemned
by sentence of a court-martial, presided over by Rear-
Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, to be flogged round the
fleet at Hong-Kong. The sentence was carried out in the
usual barbarous manner. However, I will not further
dwell on the painful subject. For many years before this
no man could be flogged, or indeed punished in any way,
without a full report of the whole circumstances connected
with his crime and punishment being made to the Admir-
alty in official form ; and the commander, after a fault had
been reported to him, had to wait four-and-twenty hours
before he determined on the sentence he would pronounce ;
and captains were liable to be tried for inflicting unduly
severe punishment. At length flogging in the navy was
altogether abolished. Commanders instead of it, resorted
to all sorts of devices, exercising their ingenuity in invent-
ing punishments for .various infractions of discipline. A
captain of this character having received a hint from the
Admiralty that he must substitute other punishments for
flogging, set to work to devise such as would answer
the purpose of maintaining discipline fully as much as the
practice objected to, seeing that the men would hate them
infinitely more. He had not long to wait before an oppor-
tunity occurred of trying the effect of his ingenuity. The
ship's cook was a negro, a stout, jolly fellow, who was gene-
rally known on board by the name of Sam Lily. Sam's
mate, Tim, was an incorrigibly idle rascal. One day Tim
having neglected to clean the galley, for which Sam was
responsible, both being reported, were put in the black list.

Captain H , chuckling with delight at having thus an

opportunity of trying his newly-invented punishment, gave
orders that Tim should walk the deck the whole afternoon
watch with a chaldron slung round his neck half full of slush,
and that Blackie, the cook, with a huge frying-pan held
at arm's length in each hand, should pace up and down for
the same period. As each bell struck, Tim had to sing
out, " Here am I, for not cleaning the galley," which was
responded to by Sam in the most dolorous tone, with, " I
for no see him, do urn," Thus, at every half hour the

476 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

words went sounding along the deck, " Here am I, for not
cleaning the galley ; " "I here for not see him do urn."

On another occasion Captain H caught a man smug-
gling a bottle of rum on board. The bottle was captured,
and the man put in the black list. After thinking over the
matter, the captain ordered a cock to be fixed in a 7-gallon
breaker, into which, being more than half-full of water,
the rum was emptied. It was then secured by a rope-
yarn round the neck of the culprit, who appeared thus at
the commencement of the watch with a tumbler in his
hand, and as the bell struck he had to fill his glass and
drink the contents, shouting out at the top of his voice
each time, " Here am I, a smuggler bold." He was never
again caught smuggling spirits on board.

A captain well known in the service as Jerry H , an

Irishman by birth, with the irascibility of temper not
uncommon among the sons of Erin, used to employ one of
the marines who had been bred a barber to shave him.
One morning the marine made his appearance as usual,
the steward following with a jug of hot water. It had
just been placed on the table as the barber had finished
lathering the captain's face ; but instead of being only
warm, it was scalding hot. The marine not reflecting on
this dipped in the razor, intending to commence operations
on the captain's upper lip, but unhappily for him, in so
doing touched his chief's nose with the back. As Jerry
felt the pain, on the impulse of the moment up went his
fist, which he planted with a knock-down blow between
the eyes of the unfortunate jolly, who rolled over half-
stunned on the deck, while the captain shouted out
in a voice of thunder, " Think yourself fortunate, ye
spalpeen, for getting that instead of the three dozen you
deserve for burning your captain's nose." Jerry in another
half minute was sitting down as if nothing had happened,
while the jolly picked himself up and went on with the
operation, taking very good care it may be certain not
to bum his captain's nose again, and thankful, probably,
to have escaped the three dozen he would to a certainty
have received.

It is reported of another captain, noted for his savage

VARIOUS MODES OF PUNISHMENT. 477

disposition, that one of his crew having offended him, he
had the man's head shaved and made him carry a kettle
of boiling water on the top of it for two hours during
every day-watch for a week. We may hope that the
report was a scandal, but it shows what men in those days
believed a tyrannical captain could be capable of. When
flogging was abolished, all sorts of devices were resorted to
for making a crew smart and bringing them into order.
In modern days, on board a ship of war on the South
American station, the first lieutenant used to put down on
a slip of paper the name of the last man off the lower-
deck when the hands were turned up to shorten sail, and
at the end of three months he took the slips and counted
who had been most frequently guilty, and they were
invariably punished. However, several good men getting
punished, the system became very unpopular, and as
many in consequence deserted it was given up. The
same system was pursued on board a remarkably crank
brig on the Cape of Good Hope station. Of course, the
safety of the ship and the lives of all depending on sail
being shortened quickly, it became necessary to keep the
men on the alert. The commander, therefore, let it be
understood that he intended when the hands were turned
up to punish the last man off the lower-deck. He was a
tall, thin man, so tall that he found his height very
inconvenient in a 10-gun brig. One day, just as he
reached the deck and was standing near the companion-
hatchway, he saw a heavy squall coming along the water,
and shouted sharply, "Hands shorten sail !" It happened
that one of the petty officers, a favourite with the crew, and
who was as short and stout as the commander was tall and
thin, finding himself likely to be behindhand if he went
up the main-hatchway, bolted through the gun-room
passage, thinking that no one would see him, and up he
sprung by the companion-hatchway. At that moment the
commander turning round, receiving the seaman's head in
the pit of his stomach, was doubled up, and sent sprawling
over the deck ; the pain preventing him from seeing who
had done the deed. The man like lightning was up the
rigging, and none of the officers having observed him, it

478 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

was not known till the ship was paid off that he was the
culprit — indeed, the commander, who was a kind and
excellent officer, was unwilling to make too minute in-
quiries. He could scarcely have punished the man for
unintentionally knocking him down, though he might
have done so for coming through the gun-room passage.

Not only were the men liable to be flogged till a late
period, but captains had the power of inflicting that
punishment upon their midshipmen, and some exercised
it within the recollection of many seamen now living.
Captain Sinclair, in his reminiscences, tells us a story of a
midshipman who had carried off in the dead of night the
remains of a roast duck from the captain's safe, when the
ship had been at sea for some weeks, and the crew as well
as the young gentlemen had tasted nothing but salt junk
for a long time. The midshipman had been observed
in the berth with a lantern, and before him the bread
barge full of midshipmen's nuts — that is, broken biscuits.
He was seen hunting about for some time, but at last sent
for the small boy of the mess to find him some salt. That
was conclusive ; it could neither be denied nor explained
away ; and he was punished accordingly.

In another instance I have to mention the result was

somewhat extraordinary. The Honourable Captain ,

a very good man, but a stern disciplinarian, was commodore
in the Pacific. His ship was lying at the Sandwich Islands,
when on coming on deck he found that a number of the
midshipmen were overboard taking a bath and enjoying
themselves, some swimming to a considerable distance.
Fearful, probably, of sharks, he ordered them all on board.
Those who heard him obeyed, but those who were farthest
off continued swimming about. As he supposed that all
must have heard him, he again shouted out, promising to
flog the last on board. With one exception, the rest heard
"him this time and came swimming back with all speed.
He repeated his threat on discovering that one still dis-
obeyed. At length the culprit coming up the side was
immediately seized, and received the punishment that had
been threatened. He was the captain's own son. The
boy's mother, hearing of the way he had been treated,

MIDSHIPMEN MAST-HEADED. 470

resolved that he should never run the risk of receiving a
similar punishment, and induced him to quit the service.
He went to the university, became a minister of the
Church of England, and finally a bishop — and a very
excellent bishop he made.

Numerous other instances occurred, but officers are not
fond of mentioning them among their reminiscences, as at
best they are unpleasant ones, however undeserving of such
treatment they may have considered themselves. Mast-
heading was too common to be much thought of; few
midshipmen of those days escaped half-dozen mast-headings
during their career, for not only the captain, but the first
lieutenant or officer of the watch could punish a midship-
man in that way. On board some ships, of which the
youngster's were endowed with unusually exuberant spirits,
and the commander and first lieutenant were martinets,
seldom a week passed without the mast-heads being graced
by one or more youngsters. Sometimes three at a time
were allowed to cool themselves, or, according to the climate,
to get roasted aloft, for three or four hours at a stretch.
Instances have occurred of a youngster coming down by the
run and breaking his neck ; but that was rare. Captain
Sinclair describes two occasions when he was mast-headed.
On one he richly deserved it, having fallen asleep on his
watch in harbour, when the cutter alongside had been
swamped, and all the gear, masts, and oars washed out of
her. On another occasion, when in the Indian Ocean,
while he was at his quarters, he attempted to catch an
unfortunate butterfly fluttering past. On this occasion,
for skylarking when at quarters, he was ordered to the
mast-head, and soon afterwards to the topgallant mast-
head. He had once been up there for his own amusement,
but the sun was hot, his legs were long and heavy, his
arms slight and weak, they both gave way at the same
moment, and down he came, passing through the cross-
trees, providentially getting entangled in some rigging,
from which two men were sent to extricate him. The
captain, having had a fright, gave the first lieutenant
orders not to mast-head him again.

One of the most ingenious punishments 1 have ever

480 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

heard of was invented by a very worthy captain in the
Mediterranean, who was certainly not generally severe with
either his officers or crew. The ship was at anchor in
Malta harbour. Among the youngsters were .three who
were much addicted to fishing. Of this the captain did
not approve, as he said that the bait and lines dirtied the
ship's side. He accordingly issued an order against it.
Still, the youngsters would fish whenever they had a
chance, and knowing that the captain had gone on shore,
they were thus one day engaged when he unexpectedly
returned, and found them hauling up fish after fish, which
left their scales sticking to the frigate's polished sides.
He sent for them aft. " I will show you, my lads, how to
fish," he said with a bland smile, and thereon ordered three
boarding-pikes to be brought, to each of which he had
about four feet of rope-yarn, secured with a hand-lead at
the end. " Now, come along, lads, and you shall begin
your fishing," he said with a quiet chuckle ; and he then
made each of them hold a boarding-pike straight out over
the taffrail at arm's length during the whole of the watch,
telling the officer of the watch to keep an eye on them.
Their arms, as may be supposed, ached not a little, and
when the lieutenant turned another way, they took the
liberty of letting the pikes rest on the rail. Every now
and then, however, the captain would come up, and with a
gentle smile on his countenance ask them, in a cheerful
voice, " Have you caught any fish, my lads ? " and when
they replied, " No, sir," he would answer, " Try a little
longer — you will have better luck by-and-by." It cured
them, as may be supposed, for the time at least, of their
love of fishing.

Not a few eccentric officers existed in the olden days,
but those who indulged in their eccentricities generally had
interest and managed notwithstanding to rise in the service.
Some gave way almost to as wild extravagancies as their
men. Fights with watchmen, wrenching off knockers, and
disturbances of all sorts, in which they took a principal
part, were common. One painted his ship black on the
one side and green on the other, on the plea that he had
not sufficient paint allowed him to give both the same hue.

ECCENTRIC NAVAL OFFICERS. 481

A second wore a white cocked-hat, declaring that the
regulations did not mention the colour it was to be of,
and that it was correct to the best of his judgment. A
well-known eccentric captain having been ordered by the
Admiralty not to go farther from his ship than his gig
could carry him, had her put on wheels, and being dragged
triumphantly by his crew through Portsmouth, proceeded
on to London to expostulate with their lordships on the
severity with which he had been treated. It was formerly
the custom of the Lords of the Admiralty to sign official
letters to their subordinates as " your affectionate friends."
A well-known captain, desiring not to be outdone in polite-
ness in his reply to a somewhat severe missive, signed him-
self " your affectionate friend."

In days gone by, a sentry-box having a seat within, as
was then the custom, stood on the Hard at Portsea, in
sight of Portsmouth dockyard gate. One night a party
of young captains coming down from a dinner-party to
embark, found the sentry at his post but sound asleep,
ensconced in his box. Punishment was his due; they
bethought them of a mode of astonishing him and others
besides. Summoning their crews, box and sentry were
carried on board one of their boats, transported to Gosport,
and then placed in an upright position facing the water.
Amazement and alarm seized the relief when neither sentry
nor box were to be found. The captain of the guard
reported the circumstance to the fort-major. The enemy, he
affirmed, must be at hand. The garrison was aroused, the
drawbridges hauled up — but daylight revealed the box and
puzzled sentry, who protested that, though sober as a judge,
he had no idea how he had been conveyed across the har-
bour.

Jerry H , when a lieutenant, one night coming down

the High Street, Portsmouth, took it into his head to mount
a lamp-post to light his cigar. While in this position he
was discovered by the watchmen, who ordered him to come
down. This order he declined to obey, when, to their cost,
they attempted to pull him down ; but he, having a thick
stick in his hand, speedily drove them off, and declared his
jntention of remaining as long as he pleased. On this,

482 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

springing their rattles, reinforcements came to their aid ;
but instead of attempting to pull the recalcitrant officer to
the ground, having procured pick-axes and spades, they
quickly dug up the lamp-post, to which Jerry still per-
tinaciously clung, when, shouldering it, the guard began to
make their way to the watch-house. Passing the end of a
dark street, he, however, slipped off, and knocking down
one or two, made his escape — and as his ship sailed the
next morning, though he was well known as the culprit, he
was not further troubled about the matter.

Since those days both officers and men have greatly
changed. Even in those days, indeed, the eccentric, rough,
and boisterous officers, the tyrannical captains were very
greatly in the minority. As a rule they then, as now, were
gentlemanly, high-principled, and brave, always favourites
from their pleasing and unaffected manners wherever they
went. The change with them is rather in the amount of
education they must of necessity possess. In those days,
when boys went to sea at eleven or twelve years of age,
they had few opportunities, even though there was a
schoolmaster on board, of acquiring any great amount of
knowledge, and provided they could read and write, knew
a little of history and geography, and a sufficient amount
of mathematics to enable them to obtain a knowledge
of navigation, they were considered well fitted for their
position — while at the present day the scientific knowledge
a naval officer must obtain before he can take command of
a ship is not inferior to that of an artillery officer, or even
an engineer officer of the sister service. The greatest
change, perhaps, is found among the men. Flogging and
empressment have long been abolished, and no punishment
whatever can be inflicted, as has been said, without a full
report of it being made to the Admiralty. Volunteers
alone are received on board men-of-war, and only when
they can bring certificates of good character. At every
large seaport there is a training-ship for boys, to which
they are not admitted till they can read and write, and
they are there taught by efficient schoolmasters, and are
carefully instructed in all the duties of their profession.
Men are now entered for continuous service, and rewards

GREATLY IMPROVED CONDITION OF SEAMEN. 483

are bestowed on them for good conduct. They enter as
able-bodied seamen, first and second class ordinary, and
boys. Some of the able seamen are rated as captains of the
tops, forecastle, &c. They are then called petty officers, and
are now divided into three separate classes, which consist
of chief petty officers, first-class working petty officers, and
second-class working petty officers. They much value
these distinctions; each class messes by itself,, and the
members hold themselves aloof from those below them,
while the fear of being disrated assists greatly to prevent
them from committing any act for which they would receive
punishment. The chief petty officers are the master-at-
arms, chief gunner's mate, chief boatswain's mate, and
several others, while each of the next ranks contains a long
list. The petty officers can rise to become chief warrant
officers. The warrant officers are either gunners, boat-
swains, or carpenters. In order, however, to qualify them-
selves for obtaining a warrant, they at present have to
undergo a preparatory education. They receive their
warrants from the Admiralty, wear uniforms, and are
treated in every respect as officers, having cabins of their
own, but mess together. They also are in different grades
and ranks, gunners, boatswains, or carpenters of the first
and second class.

The continuous service seamen of the navy, who enter
for ten years, form a permanent body, and are passed
on from ship to ship; always, however, obtaining leave,
when a ship returns from foreign service, to go on shore
and visit their friends. They have not thus, however, the
option of choosing their ships as in days of yore. When
the period for which they first volunteered has elapsed,
they can re-enter with a certainty thus of obtaining a
pension. Other men, however, are allowed to enter a
particular ship during her commission. The boys from the
training ships become continuous service men.

The seamen who man the ships of war in commission
number altogether about 30,000 men, of whom 25,000 are
continuous service men. As in the event of a war many
more would be required, a naval reserve has been established,
who nominally amount to another 30,000. These consist

484 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of the coast-guard men, who, though dispersed along the
coast for the protection of the revenue, are borne on the
books of the ships stationed at the different ports round
Great Britain and Ireland. They amount to about 9000
men, most of whom are men-of-war's men who have served
ten years at sea, and are therefore well able to do duty at
a moment's notice. Nearly all the ships employed in the
coast-guard service are modern and efficient men-of-war, the
old ships which, when the system was first introduced were
stationed at these ports having been removed to make way
for them. The coast-guard men are remarkable for their
steadiness, and most of them having homes, and wives,
and families, they have every inducement to behave well.
During the Russian war it was found that thorough depend-
ence could be placed on them; when selected for boat
service and sent on shore, not one of them ever ran away,
or got drunk, or failed to return at the time appointed ;
while they seldom or ever on any occasion were brought
up for punishment.

The next component part of the reserve consists of the
naval coast volunteers, who are chiefly boatmen, fishermen,
and 'longshore-men. Few of them are accustomed to a
man-of-war or to do duty aloft, but they are fair gunners,
and might serve to man our coast-defence ships. They are
legally not compelled to go more than a Hundred leagues
from the shore, so that the operations of a fleet might be
seriously impeded were any such on board the ships com-
posing it. They are enrolled for five years, and receive a
bounty of £6 for that period. Altogether they amount to
about 7000 men. They have to undergo annually a drill
of twenty-eight days in the district coast-guard ships, during
which they receive pay and allowance as able seamen. They
are liable to be called upon in case of war to serve in the
fleet, though not for more than two years. They would, if
called out for service, be incorporated with the coast-guard.

The third component part of the reserve consists of short-
service pensioners, seamen who have retired after ten years'
service on sixpence a-day. Their numbers, of course, vary,
but it is calcuated that they amount to about 4000. To
, these may be added a. reserve force of 11,000 marines

THE NAVAL RESERVE.

They also are enlisted for limited service, but on their
discharge can also become short-service pensioners like the
seamen. In addition to these a volunteer reserve force
has been constituted from the mercantile marine of 30,000
men. They must be British subjects, not more than thirty-
five years of age, and have served five years at sea within
the ten years previous to their joining the reserve, one
year of that time as able seamen. Each volunteer must
attend drill for twenty-eight days during the year, and he
may do it, so far as the public service will permit, at a
time and place most convenient to himself ; but he cannot
in any case take less than seven days' drill at a time. He
shall not, without special permission, proceed on a voyage
which will occupy more than six months. He must appear
before some shipping master once in every six months,
unless he has leave to be abroad longer, and must also
report every change of residence or employment. In order
to obtain a pension he must remain in the force as long as
he is physically able to serve, and should any emergency
arise he will be liable to be called out for three years ; and
should he be serving and war continue he may be required
to serve for two years longer — but he will then receive
twopence a-day additional pay. While on drill or actual
service he will be subject to naval discipline, and indeed
in every respect be treated as a seaman of the navy. On
volunteering he will at once receive an annual retainer of
£6, payable quarterly, and should he remain in the reserve
the requisite time and fulfil all the conditions, he will
receive a pension of not less than £12 a-year whenever
he becomes incapacitated from earning a livelihood, or at
sixty years of age, if not previously incapacitated His
wife will also benefit, if he elects to take a smaller pension
for himself during his life, that she may enjoy one after
his death for the remainder of her life. He will be eligible
to benefit by the Greenwich Hospital Fund or to enter the
coastguard service. He may quit the reserve if not callecl
out on paying back the retainers he has received, or with-
out payment if he passes an examination as master or
master's mate, and obtains bondfid^ employment as master
or mate.

486 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

A certain number of officers belonging to the merchant-
service have also been enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve.
The highest rank are those who are or have been in com-
mand of large merchant-vessels. They receive commissions
as lieutenants, and write R.N.R. after their names. The
next in rank are those who either command merchantmen
or are first officers. They have commissions as sub-
lieutenants; and there are also twenty-two midshipmen
who have gained prizes and passed creditable examinations
on board the Worcester and other training-ships for officers
in the merchant-service. The latter have been made mid-
shipmen of the R.N.R. A few engineers and assistant
engineers have also been enrolled. •

To increase the popularity of the service a number of
gentlemen, the owners of yachts which they command
themselves, having passed examinations in seamanship
and navigation, have also received commissions as honorary
lieutenants of the R.N.R. The whole number of officers,
including engineers, is not to exceed 700. The officers
rank with those of the same rank in the navy, but after
them. Lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, and midshipmen are
required to undergo each year a course of twenty-eight
days' drill and gunnery instruction on board one of the
district drill-ships, or if abroad for more than a year, on
board one of Her Majesty's ships having a gunnery lieu-
tenant. During the time, lieutenants receive 10s. a-day,
and sub-lieutenants 7s. a-day, as subsistence allowance,
and mess with the officers of their respective ranks in the
Royal Navy. All ranks are authorised to wear uniforms,
slightly differing only from those worn by officers of the
same ranks in the Royal Navy.

Much has been done of late years to improve the char-
acter of seamen of the Royal Navy ; schoolmasters are
appointed to all large ships, from whom not ODly the boys
but the men can receive instruction. Means are afforded
them of placing their pay in savings banks ; their drinking
habits are discouraged, and they are supplied with cocoa
or tea, instead of liquor, if they wish it, or can receive pay
in lieu of rum. They have spaces set apart for reading
and writing, and books and periodicals are supplied to

INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF SEAMEN. 487

them. Several missionary societies expressly for their
benefit have been established, and the missionaries in
all instances are cordially received on board the ships,
when services are held and tracts distributed. Every sea-
man in the navy is supplied with a Bible, and in many
ships the use of a cabin or space forward is afforded to
those who wish to hold prayer meetings or to read unin-

terruptedly. Profligacy is discouraged, and the harpies of
both sexes who were formerly admitted in numbers on
board ships of war are no longer allowed to visit them.
On shore, sailors' homes, established at all the large ports
by the indefatigable energy of the late Captain Elliott,
Admirals Gambier, Sir W. H. Hall, and other Christian
officers, afford him a comfortable home as soon as he steps

488 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

on shore, where he can deposit his clothes and money
without fear of loss, and leave them while he visits his
friends, or till he goes again to sea. These sailors' homes
deserve a fuller description than space will allow. They
are mostly large, airy buildings, with dining-halls and
reading-rooms, and each seaman enjoys a clean, neat cabin
to himself while he remains an inmate of one of them at a
very moderate charge. They have undoubtedly tended
greatly to raise the character of the seamen both of the
Royal Navy and merchant-service, while they have assisted
to keep the well-disposed from falling into the temptations
which surround the sailor on shore. But the training-
ships are doing still more to raise the character of seamen,
as from their earliest days boys receive a religious and
moral education, while being instructed in the duties of
seamen, which cannot fail to produce a beneficial effect
on them through their lives, They thus also become
thoroughly imbued with the spirit which should animate
men-of-war's men, and feel themselves part and parcel of
the navy to which they expect to belong during their ser-
vice afloat, knowing also that they will be provided for by
the Government in their declining years.

Other means might be taken to bind men more closely
to the service ; comfortable homes or barracks might
be provided at the ports to which ships belong, while
they are undergoing repair, with space for exercise and
amusement around them; and villages might be esta-
blished in the neighbourhood of the large ports, with
comfortable well-ventilated cottages or houses, like the
model lodging-houses in London, where the wives and
families of the married seamen might reside while they
are afloat. Such villages might be established in the
neighbourhood of Portsmouth and Plymouth, it being
arranged, of course, that ships fitted out at one port
should always return to it. The wives of the men might
obtain employment as laundresses, charwomen, and other
similar occupations, while the daughters might go out to
service, and the boys would naturally, in most instances,
follow the sea — and thus a class of hereditary men-of-
war's men would be brought up, attached to the service

HOMES FOR SEAMEN ON SHORE. 480

from their earliest days. When superannuated, the seamen
would take up their residence in the village, and assist to
foster the love of the navy in their descendants. Thinking
over the plan, I can see no objection to it being carried out
on a large scale, and it would certainly assist greatly in
supplying a class of trustworthy men for the service, who
would have every reason to remain attached to it. How
to man the navy is one of the problems of the day. These
two suggestions, if thoroughly carried out, would, I con-
ceive, assist in its solution. Never before did the navy of
England require so large a number of steady, well-trained
men, possessed of all the best qualities of their fathers,
with many superadded ; but of one thing we may be
certain, that the more moral, religious, and well conducted
are our seamen, the better will they fight their country's
battles, and manage the complicated and expensive
•machines our ships of war have now become. We want
men of iron nerve, courageous, thoughtful, experienced,
and fearless of death. A religious and moral education,
and careful training from their youth upwards, can alone
produce such men, and if such are found to man our
navy, we may once more, as of yore, defy the world in
arms against us.

CHAPTER XXII.

jof Wtw 0f %

E have had glimpses of the navy of England
from the time when ships had but one deck,
or were nearly altogether open, and had but
one mast, or at most but two, with large
square sails, and were propelled in calms or
when the wind was contrary by long oars ; were fitted
with beaks to run into the sides of the enemy's vessels ;
when they carried but a few sailors, and gangs of oarsmen
to row, and when the fighting was done by men-at-arms
with bows and arrows, long spears, battle-axes, swords, and
catapults or other engines for hurling missiles, and when
lime and Greek fire were used to create a smoke or to set
their antagonists in flames. We have seen guns introduced
and mounted on a single deck to fire over the bulwarks ;
then ports formed through which the ordnance could
discharge their shot ; fore and aft sails invented to enable
ships to sail on a wind, and afterwards ships built with
two and even three decks, and cumbrous forecastles and
after-castles, which made them, if more formidable to an
enemy in a calm, utterly unfitted to brave a tempest at
sea. In those days, too, on the tops of their lower masts
they carried huge circular structures to contain a number
of men, and often small pieces of ordnance, while though
gaily decked with banners, they were heavily rigged, and
were at best unwieldy, cumbrous craft. The big ships
were rather for show than use, the chief part of the
fighting being performed by the smaller, more nimble
frigates and galleys, which, still moved by oars, could dash
490

SHIPS BUILT FROM FRENCH MODELS. 491

here and there and attack the enemy or retreat if necessary
at pleasure. We have watched the top-hamper discarded,
the heavy forecastles and other ponderous structures re-
moved, oars for large vessels disused, and ships gradually
assuming the form of those which existed in the eighteenth
century. We have seen sailors taking the place of the
fighting men, and those destined to be officers entering
the service at an early age, and regularly trained to naval
duties ; though retaining traces of the former system, the
commander and his lieutenants having still somewhat
of a military character, and being looked upon as of a
superior grade to the master and his mates, to whom was
confided the navigation of the ship. Still, the purely
military element was separated from the naval by the
introduction of soldiers under the name of marines on
board ship; though even they, having but few duties
to perform as soldiers, were utilised by being made to
pull and haul at the ropes on deck, and performing
other services not requiring the agility and experience of
seamen.

For a century or more little or no change appears to
have taken place in the form of ships, though men-of-war
were gradually built larger and larger, and the vast mizzen
fitted to the lateen yard was abandoned, and the spanker
or driver substituted, with a square topsail, topgallant-sail
and royal to the mizzen-mast. The English naval architects
indeed, till a late period, appear to have had little inven-
tive genius. Our early ships were all imitations from the
Genoese or other maritime people on the shores of the
Mediterranean, and latterly our best vessels were either
taken from the French or copied from those we captured.
Among these may be mentioned the Canopus, of SO-guns,
which was taken from the French under the name of the
Franklin at the battle of the Nile, in 1798. For many
years she was considered the finest two-decker in the
British Navy, and served as a model for all the SO-guu
ships then built. At St. Domingo she fought a French
three-decker of 130 guns, and forty years after her capture
belonged to the Mediterranean squadron. The Donegal,
a 74, was also captured from the French in 1798, when

492 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

she was called the Hocke. She likewise was in the battle
of St. Domingo, and did good service in the English Navy
for forty-seven years. The Genoa, another 74, taken from
the French at Genoa in 1814, was at Navarino in 1827,
and after being twenty-four years in the service was
broken up in 1838. The JBelleisle, a 74, captured in 1795,
bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Trafalgar. The
Amelia, a 42-gun frigate, was taken in 1796, and for
twenty years did good service in the English Navy, being
frequently engaged. The San Fiorenzo, a 36 -gun frigate,
taken from the French in 1797, when she was called the
Minerve, frequently received George the Third *on board
when his majesty was staying at Wey mouth. She also,
in 1805, when commanded by Sir H. B. Neale, and accom-
panied by the Nymph, captured two French frigates. She
also in the same year took the Sylphe, and in 1808 the
Piedmontaise. For upwards of fifty years she was a
favourite ship in the British Navy. To these may be
added some twenty-four other ships, whose names are
known to fame, and which for many years did good
service ; the Tigre, 74, Sir Sidney Smith's ship at Acre,
the Sanspariel, the Alceste, wrecked with Lord Amhurst
on board in the China seas, the Implacable, 74, employed
on the coast of Syria in 1840, and existing in the navy list
for upwards of fifty-two years.

I am reminded of an anecdote of an Isle of Wight pilot
or smuggler, whom I knew, who happened some years
after the war to be on shore at Cherbourg, when a new and
remarkably fine French frigate was seen coming into the
harbour. The native seafaring men were boasting of her
various excellent qualities, when one of them turned to
my old acquaintance, and in a supercilious manner asked
" If the English had got as fine a frigate in their service ? "
"As to that, it's more than I can say," answered Jack
Dore, cocking his eye, " but I know if there corned a war
we precious soon should have one — it wouldn't be many
weeks before we'd have she," the reply at once silencing
his associates.

Our ships till the end of the last century were flat-sterned,
with heavy quarter-galleries, and carrying big lanterns

CIRCULAE STERNS INTRODUCED.

493

above the poop of sufficient size to admit several men;
while their bows below water were bluff, and above they
had long projecting beak-heads, which, to avoid weight,
Avere of necessity but flimsy fabrics, affording no shelter to
the crew, and of no use whatever. At length it occurred
to Sir Robert Seppings, when constructing the 74-gun
ship Namur, in 1805, to build her with a solid circular
bow carried up to her main-deck, by which means her

STERN OF MODERN WOODEN SHIP.

crew were protected from the raking shot of an enemy. It
was soon seen that the advantage thus gained was so great
that from henceforth every ship in the British Navy was
constructed with a solid circular bow instead of a beak-
head. About the year 1817 Sir Robert Seppings also
introduced another great improvement, that was, building
.the stems of line-of-battle ships of a circular form, while

494 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to add to their strength as many timbers as possible were
run up. By this improvement a very formidable stern-
battery was presented to the enemy. It enabled the guns
to be run out so far as to prevent accidents to the stern by
their explosion, the danger arising from being pooped was
considerably diminished if not wholly prevented, and the
obstruction to the ship's progress, which, according to the
old plan, was occasioned by the projection of quarter-
galleries when ships were going on a wind, was removed.
The ships were thus made in every way more seaworthy
and better adapted for defence — indispensable qualities in
men-of-war. So highly was this change approved of that
the Admiralty ordered all new ships down to fifth-rates
inclusive to be so constructed, and directed that any
undergoing extensive repairs should have their sterns
altered. From this time forward improvements were con-
siderable and rapid, and when we examine the old Victory
and the more modern Duke of Wellington, lying close
together in Portsmouth Harbour, we shall see the great
change which had taken place in line-of-battle ships before
the introduction of iron-plated ships, the one representing
a ship of the 18th century, the latter one of the 19th, both
in form and size.

The Victory has been the name given to a ship in the
English Navy since the year 1570, and whenever one has
disappeared another has taken her place. The last
Victory was, like the present famous ship, a three-decker,
and carried 110 guns. She was lost, in 1744, one dark
night when coming up channel on the Caskets, with all
her gallant crew of nearly a thousand men. The keel of
the present Victory was soon afterwards laid at Chatham
dockyard, and launched on the 7th of May, 1767. Her
keel is 137 feet 3 inches long, she measures from figure-
head to taffrail 226 feet 6 inches, and she is of 2162 tons.
At first she carried 104 guns, but 6 carronades were after-
wards added — though these were removed before she
fought in the battle of Trafalgar. Two of the carronades
which remained on her forecastle were 68-pounders, and
taking her broadside at 52 guns, the weight she fired was
1160 pounds — not half that of the Duke of Wellington;

"VICTORY" AND "DUKE OF WELLINGTON" CONTRASTED. 495

while that of one of the modern iron-clads, the Monarch,
which carries but six guns on her broadside, is 2515
pounds, being more than twice that of the Victory. The
armament of the Victory altogether was, on her lower-
deck 30 long 32-pounders, on her middle-deck 30 long
24-pounders, on her main-deck 32 long 12-pounders, on
her upper-deck 10 short 12-pounders, and 2 68-pounder
carronades — the largest of these guns not being able
to send their shot a quarter of the distance to which
those of the present day can project their formidable
missiles.

The Duke of Wellington was one of the last, if not the
last, of the old style of line-of-battle ships built, as far as
her build is concerned, but she was from the first fitted
with a screw and an engine of 700 horse-power. She
measures 3771 tons, and was launched at Pembroke dock-
yard in 1852. A more magnificent ship of her style never
floated, and yet as a man-of-war she is not of the slightest
value, and she is now destined to float, though not
altogether useless, on the waters of Portsmouth Harbour,
for she serves either as the flag-ship of the admiral, or is
of still more service as a training-ship for those who are
destined to fight England's battles on board the ships
which have superseded her.

To return, however, to the subject of the smaller vessels
of the British Navy. Being less expensive, the Admiralty
allowed their naval architects to indulge in all sorts of
freaks in their construction, from the building of a 28-gun
"jackass frigate " down to the schooners built in the dock-
yard of Bermuda. These detestable craft, constructed of
pencil cedar, measured about 78 tons, mounted four 12-
pounder carronades, and carried 20 men and boys. They
were, in fact, caricatures of men-of-war. Officers who
could venture to do so declined taking the command of
them ; some even preferred vessels built in the same
island intended to be used as water-tanks at Jamaica,
when, commissioned as fighting- vessels, they were sent
forth to burn, sink, and destroy all the enemies of England
they could meet with. These precious king's schooners
Were found to sail so wretchedly, and proved so crank and

496 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

unseaworthy, that almost all those that escaped capture
went to the bottom with their unfortunate crews.

The 10-gun brigs built at a later period, though more
pretentious, from their crankness and the amount of can-
vas they carried, shared the fate of their smaller sisters.
The great fault of British men-of-war in the early part of
the eighteenth century, as Mr. James observes, was their
insufficient size in reference to the guns they were forced
to carry. Hence their lower batteries could seldom be
used in blowing weather, and they sailed and worked
heavily. The same fault existed till a much later period,
especially in the case of the smaller craft of which I have
been speaking. The smaller the vessel, the thinner is her
planking ,and consequently she is more likely to suffer
from an enemy's guns. The English for long seemed to
ignore this truth, of which other nations, and especially
the Americans, took advantage. The famous President
was, according to English measurement, of 1553 tons, so
that she was almost as large a ship as the generality of
British seventy-fours, though she carried nominally only
44 guns, while her yards were as square and .her masts as
stout as theirs. In point of scantling, also, she was at least
equal to a British 74 of the largest class; her main-deck
port-sill measured 1 foot 8 inches, while that of a British
74 of 1800 tons measured only 1 foot 7 inches. From her
great length she had 54 ports for her broadsides, and
could actually mount altogether 62 guns, while she carried
at least 475 men. Although the English afterwards built
or altered ships to compete with the large American
frigates, they scarcely even then possessed the same power
of resistance and attack, although it may be our boast that
we ultimately possessed as perfect models of ships of war as
any afloat. In truth, England's battles were won not
because their ships were superior in size and armament to
those of other nations, but victory sided with them on
account of the pluck, courage, determination, and good
seamanship of British officers, and the strengtli, hardi-
hood, and activity of British crews ; and in most instances
because the latter had been well trained' to the use of
their guns,

IMPROVED FORM OF SHIPS-OF-WAR. 497

No great alteration was made in the form of ships of
war till Sir William Symonds became surveyor of the navy.
He introduced sharper bows and much cleaner runs than
any ships had before possessed, while he gave great breadth
of beam to the vessels he built. His small craft were
beautiful in shape, very fast, and carried their canvas
well ; but his large vessels were of insufficient height from
the surface of the water, so that the guns on the lee-side
could not be fought if there was any wind, nor on either
side when a heavy sea was running, When steam was
introduced, and an attempt was made to fit them with
engines, it was found that on account of their contracted
bottoms, the machinery could not be placed in a proper
position, and that his vessels to carry steam-engines would
have their centre of gravity disturbed to a dangerous
degree. Still, as Sir William had never contemplated the
possibility of fitting his vessels with steam machinery, he
could scarcely be blamed on that account. He rendered
an essential service to the navy by getting rid of the abom-
inable little 10-gun brigs, or rather in preventing any
fresh vessels of their size and shape being built, for they
had mostly got rid of themselves by foundering or going
on shore. His 16-gun brigs and 18 and 20-gun sloops of
war were beautiful vessels, better able to fight their guns
or to keep the sea in heavy weather than any previous
vessels of their size and armament.

The cost of our men-of-war is a matter of interest to
many. A sailing ship is much less expensive than a
steamer, independent of the machinery, as the steamer
requires greater strength, and, consequently, a larger
amount of timber in her construction. In round numbers,
a man-of-war steamer costs one-third more than a sailing-
vessel. For example, the cost of the hull of a 50-gun frigate
during the first quarter of the century, did not amount to
much more than £50,000 ; one of the latest built wooden
frigates, also of 50 guns, of 1000 horse-power, cost little
under £100,000 ; and while the sailing - frigate required
only 2530 loads of timber, to frame which 178 shipwrights
were occupied for one year, a steam- frigate of the same
number of guns requires 3366 loads of timber, and the

498 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

employment for one year of 222 shipwrights. The ex-
pense of supporting their crews is much in the same pro-
portion. A sailing-frigate carried 500 men, at a cost per
annum in wages of £14,500 ; while a steam-frigate of the
old style, carried 560 men, their united wages amounting
to upwards of £19,300, the increase arising chiefly from
the wages of the engineers and stokers, who must be
looked upon as additions to the ordinary crew. The
magnificent Duke of Wellington cost altogether £171,735,
including the labour employed on her hull, the materials
of the same, the masts, rigging, sails, and stores, and the
engines and gear. The maintenance of such a ship for
repairs alone amounts annually to £14,325. This is irre-
spective of the pay of her officers and crew, that may be
set down, when she was commissioned for sea, as she
carried 1100 men, at £35,248. It is calculated, too, that a
ship constantly employed at sea requires a thorough
repair every five to ten years, in addition to the annual
repair which she of necessity undergoes. Captain Hans
Busk, to whom I am indebted for these particulars, states
that the entire spread of canvas of the DuJce of Welling-
ton considerably exceeds an acre and a-half; that her
main-mast alone, independent of the yards or rigging, cost
very little less than £500 ; the fore-mast, about £380 ; the
mizzen-mast, rather more than £100 ; and the bowsprit and
jib-boom, about £220 more ; that her anchors and cables
weigh upwards of 100 tons, and the weight of provisions and
stores for six months' consumption of her crew, exceeds
300 tons. Two hundred men working hard for twelve
months are required to build the hull of such a vessel.
It must be understood, however, that the Duke of Welling-
ton, as she at present exists, is of a far less annual cost to
the country than she would have been had she been main-
tained as an actual fighting ship of war. A large number
of her guns have been taken on shore, her masts and
rigging have been reduced, her steam-engines are at rest,
and the wear and tear she has to undergo while floating
on the calm bosom of the harbour is comparatively
slight. She is, however, perfectly fit to go to sea,
though not to contend with an iron-clad. She and the

COST OP MODERN SHIPS. 499

Duncan would make splendid hospital ships to attend
a fleet or troopers for short voyages. The latter has
taken reliefs of officers and men to the West India and
Pacific stations.

The nation is not the gainer by the great change which has
taken place in naval architecture, for the ironclads, on whose
upper works those who walk her quarter-deck can look down,
are much more costly, as they are infinitely superior to her
in power ; but I shall have to speak of them by-and-by.

Some of my readers may belong, or may hope to belong,
to the Britannia, the training - ship for naval cadets.
When built, some twenty years ago or more, she was
intended to carry 120 guns ; to construct her 4150 loads
of rough timber were required, and the labour of 218 ship-
wrights. She must thus, of course, have cost a good round
sum, while the pay of her crew alone amounted to £26,693.
The Marlborough, however, built on purpose to carry a
screw, required 6068 loads of timber, and the labour of
334 shipwrights. The increased expense of construction
arose in consequence, as I have before said, of the greater
strength required for a steamer. The expense of main-
taining the Marlborough was further increased by the cost
of her engines : the larger number of men, and the heavy
item of fuel required by such a ship, amounted to upwards
of £100 a-day, when on a voyage under steam. Mr. Busk
further tells us, that not more than forty oak-trees can
grow upon an acre of land so as to attain their full size, or to
yield each two loads of timber. In order, therefore, to
build a ship like the Marlborough, the produce of 76 acres
of oak forest, of the growth of 100 years, would be neces-
sary ; and that, to supply the demands of such a navy as
England possessed fifteen years ago, would absorb annually
the produce of nearly 14,000 acres. Had, therefore, the
nations of Europe and America continued to build wooden
ships of the proportions to which they had of late attained,
all the oak forests in the world would in time have dis-
appeared. Teak and other woods have, however, been
used in shipbuilding. Many smaller vessels have been
constructed of fir, which is far less durable than oak. At
the end of the war the navy of England consisted of 538

500 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

ships, including those employed in the harbour service,
and building or ordered to be built ; but exclusive of
troop-ships, steam-ships, royal yachts, &c. &c. This appears
a large number ; nearly 100 were line-of-battle ships, as
many more were frigates, besides a large number of sloops
of war and corvettes ; but of these comparatively a small
number were seaworthy.

It is time, however, that we should take a glance at the
introduction and progress of steam-power in the ships of
the navy, which, although not altogether superseding the
use of sails, has produced so prodigious a change, and will
produce a still greater, in maritime warfare. Nearly a
century has passed since the first steam-vessel was con-
structed. The honour of building and navigating her is
due to Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton, in Scotland, and the
machinery for working the paddles, as well as the paddle-
wheel, was the invention of William Symington. He and
Mr. Miller were aided by Mr. Taylor, the tutor to Mr.
Miller's sons. The paddle-wheels worked one before the
other in the centre of the boat. The first experiment was
performed on the lake at Dalswinton, in October, 1788. The
engine, being mounted oh a frame, was placed on a deck
between two pleasure-boats ; when set going, it propelled
the vessel at the rate of five miles an hour.

It was not, however, till the year 1801 that Lord Dundas
of Kerse, taking advantage of Mr. Miller's labours, after
various experiments, which in two years cost £7000, built
the Charlotte DuTidas, the first practical steamboat, which
it was intended to work on the Forth and Clyde Canal ;
but the proprietors objecting to her use, under the idea
that she would damage the banks, though her efficiency
was proved, she was laid up. Another boat was built,
which attained a speed of nearly seven miles an hour ; but
that after some time was abandoned.

In 1804 John Stephens, of Hoboken, near New York,
built a small vessel 22 feet in length, which ran at the rate
of seven or eight miles an hour ; and Fulton soon afterwards
introduced steamers on the Hudson. In the year 1812 the
Comet was launched, and began to ply on the Clyde, being
the first British steamer that ran regularly with passengers.

FIRST STEAM-VESSELS BUILT. 501

During the war between the United States and Great
Britain in 1814, Fulton, who was an American, built a
large vessel after the plan of Mr. Miller's, consisting of two
vessels with the paddles between them, which was intended
to carry 30 guns, and was fitted with machinery to enable
her to discharge vast quantities of hot water through the
port-holes, by which the ammunition of the enemy would
be rendered useless, and boarders driven back or scalded to
death. Added to these means of defence, she was said to
be armed with numberless cutlasses and pikes which, moved
by machinery, would dart forth from all quarters with
fearful rapidity, thus rendering it impossible for any enemy
to approach her ; while with her paddles she could take
up a position ahead or astern of her foe, and pour in a
raking broadside. She was certainly the first man-of-war
steamer ever built, but she never put to sea or had an
opportunity of trying her powers — indeed, it is doubtful
whether she was ever actually completed. At all events,
as her sides were of wood, and though a shot to injure her
paddles must have passed through two sides, her machinery
itself could only have been imperfectly protected, and had
she met a foe even of her own size and number of guns, it
is not improbable that she would have got the worst of it,
in spite of all the contrivances she possessed for defence.

The Comet, built by Henry Bell, a ship-carpenter of
Helensburgh, on the Clyde, was 40 feet in length of keel,
25 tons burden, and 3-horse power. The second steamer
on the Clyde, the Elizabeth, was launched in 1813, and in
1814 Mr. Fife, of Fairlie, launched the Industry, which
vessel was till lately used as a luggage steamer of the Clyde
Shipping Company, and is stated to be the oldest steamer
afloat. After this steam navigation on the rivers both of
England and America rapidly increased.

The Americans had the honour of performing the first Trans-
atlantic voyage under steam, with the Savannah, of 350tons,
which arrived at Liverpool, 15th July, 1819, in 2G days from
New York. A longer voyage, however, was made by the
Enterprise, English steam-ship, which left Falmouth, 16th
August, 1825, and arrived safely in India ; and in 1838 the
Sirius and Great Westerncrossed from England to New York.

502 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

In 1815 steamers were introduced on the Thames, dur-
ing which year ten vessels of a burden altogether of 1633
tons were plying on British waters, and forty years after-
wards there were 2010 vessels, foreign traders and coasters,
in their aggregate of 408,290 tons. Some years, however,
passed before it occurred to the Admiralty that steamers
could possibly be of any use as men-of-war, and not till
they saw them plying in numbers on the Thames do they
appear to have turned much attention to the subject. At
length, about the year 1823, they purchased the Monkey
tug, a vessel of about 212 tons, and 80-horse power, and
she, notwithstanding her undignified name and employ-
ment, has the honour of being the first steam- vessel belong-
ing to the Royal Navy of Great Britain. She was short,
with huge paddle-boxes, and of great beam, and rendered
good service in her day, besides serving as a model for
other larger vessels.

At first the Admiralty appear to have supposed that
steamers would only be of use as despatch -boats, as trans-
ports, or for towing ships into or out of action — an opinion
shared very generally by naval officers, who were inclined
to look down upon them with contempt — and few were
found ready either to take the command of or to serve on
board the "smoke-jacks," or "tea-kettles," as they were
generally called ; and as to pretending to know anything
about the steam machinery, that was totally beneath their
notice. A few officers, however, more far-sighted than
others, convinced that in spite of all that was said against
steamers, they would come into use, wisely got into steam-
engine factories, and applied themselves diligently to the
study of machinery ; being ultimately, as they deserved,
rewarded with the command of vessels. It was some time,
however, before the Monkey was succeeded by any large
steam-ships.

The East India Company appear to have introduced
them into their navy at a very early period, and in 1824,
in the war with the Burmese up the Irrawaddy, the Diana
steamer, though not originally an armed vessel, did good
service both in transporting the troops, and guns being
put on board her, in chasing the boats of the foe. She was,

FIRST MAN-OF-WAR STEAMERS. 503

however, the only steamer employed, and she belonged to
the company.

Twelve or more years passed away before the Admiralty
launched any real man-of-war steamers. In 1828, at
Navarino, none were employed ; though a few years after
that several steam-sloops and steam-frigates were added to
the navy — the Gorgon, Vesuvius, Phoenix, and Stromboli,
armed with two heavy guns and four carronades. These
vessels took an active part in the war in Syria in 1840, the
first time in which we had employed steamers in battle; but
on this occasion they were directed to keep as much as pos-
sible out of harm's way, and to use their guns for long shots —
it being feared that their engines and paddles would suffer.

In the war with the Chinese, which commenced in 1839,
several armed paddle-wheel steamers belonging to the East
India Company were employed, and rendered important
services in all the operations, the most active being the
Nemesis ; but they did not attempt to attack stone walls,
and were employed chiefly in chasing Chinese junks, in
towing the men-of-war, and in conveying and landing troops.

Among the paddle-wheel frigates and sloops still existing
are the Gladiator, of 6 guns and 1210 tons; the Barraconta,
paddle-wheel sloop, of 6 guns and 1053 tons, lately employed
on the west coast of Africa ; the Basilisk, of 5 guns, paddle-
wheel sloop, of 1031 tons, lately employed on the Australian
coast ; the Sphynx, of 5 guns, paddle-wheel sloop, of 10C1
tons, lately on the West India station; the Spiteful, of
6 guns, paddle-wheel sloop, of 1054 tons, on the west coast
of Africa station; the Terrible, of 19 guns, paddle-wheel
frigate, of 1850 tons ; the Valorous, of 12 guns, paddle-wheel
frigate, of 1257 tons ; the Virago, of 6 guns, paddle-wheel
sloop, of 1059 tons, in ordinary — to which may be added
the royal yacht, the Victoria and Albert, and about a
dozen despatch-vessels and other small craft, the only
paddle-wheel steamers now remaining in the Royal Navy.

In the operations in the Parana several pacldle-wheel
steamers took an active part, and were frequently under
fire, as others did more lately in the attack on Lagos,
though their boats rather than the ships themselves were
engaged in the latter work. They thus had few oppor-

504 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

tunities of showing their power of endurance, and are
rapidly becoming in the Royal Navy as vessels of the past.
At length, in the year 1834, Mr. Francis Pettit Smith
conceived the idea of making a vessel move across the
water by means of a screw fixed above the after-part of her
keel, and he succeeded in thus impelling a small model on
his father's horse-pond at Hendon in Middlesex. In 1835
he constructed a model on a superior plan, with which
numerous successful experiments were performed. In 1836
he took out a patent for his invention — the idea was not
altogether a new one — which he called the Archimedean
screw-propeller. The same idea may have occurred to
others, but the difficulties connected with its working had
never been satisfactorily solved. For some time neither
the Admiralty nor engineers, nor the majority of naval men,
would believe that Mr. Smith's screw could be made to
work with sufficient power to drive a vessel against the
wind. Then, it was argued that he was not a scientific
man, and had not studied naval engineering. Two gentle-
men, however, Mr. Wright and Mr. Caldwell, thought
differently, and in 1836, with their assistance, Mr. Smith,
aided by Mr. Thomas Pilgrim, a practical engineer, built a
vessel of 10 tons with an engine of 6-horse power, which
was tried with success on the Paddington Canal, and then
on the Thames. The tiny craft then put to sea, and
encountered some severe weather on her passage to Dover,
Folkestone, and other places, proving that the screw would
answer as well in rough as in smooth water. Captain
Ericssen then, entering cordially into Mr. Smith's plans,
assisted him in the construction of another vessel, which,
though only 45 feet in length and of 8-feet beam, and
drawing not more than 29 inches, towed a large barque
against a strong tide at the rate of upwards of 4 knots an
hour. The Lords of the Admiralty hearing of the success
of the little craft, assembled on board their barge off
Somerset House, when the little vessel towed her down to
Blackwall and back again at an average speed of 10 miles
an hour. After this it might have been supposed that all
difficulties would vanish, but it was not till 1838 that
the official mind was sufficiently satisfied that the screw

THE SCREW INTRODUCED. 505

principle would succeed as to encourage Mr. Smith and his
friends to construct a regular sea-going craft, when the now
far-famed Archimedes, of 237 tons burden and 80-horse
power, was the result. She made a voyage round England,
visiting all the principal ports, and afterwards crossed the
Bay of Biscay to Oporto. I had then the pleasure of
making a short trip in her, when Mr. Smith fully explained
the construction of the machinery and the numerous
difficulties he had to go through. She answered in all re-
spects the expectations of her constructors, going in smooth
water at the rate of 10 knots an hour — though the exces-
sive vibration when the screw was at work had not been
obviated, and was very trying to those unaccustomed to it.

Still, the engineers were not convinced that the screw
would answer under general circumstances, and some more
years passed before any merchant-vessels were fitted with
it. The screw then used was literally a screw. A spiral
blade went round a shaft ; though not continuous, it was
raised or lowered through a well sunk in the vessel above
it. The successful voyage of the Archimedes induced the
Admiralty at last to build a small craft called the See, fitted
with paddles and a screw — and a busy time she had of it,
trying which afforded the best means of locomotion. The
screw beat the two paddles. In 1843 the Admiralty, still
not convinced, ordered a vessel of 800 tons and 200-horse
power, called the Rattler, to be built, and also the Alecto,
of the same size and power; the first to be fitted with
a screw and the latter with paddles. Again the screw
principle triumphed over the old-fashioned paddles.

Before this the Vulcan had been built and employed
as a revenue cruiser, under the command of Captain (then
Lieutenant) Crispin. I spent some time on board her.
She was a beautiful craft, very fast, and in smooth water
could be steered with the little finger — but the vibration
of her screw was excessive, and appeared at times as if
it would shake the stern out of her.

The success of the Rattler induced the Admiralty to
build Her Majesty's yacht Fairy and twenty other vessels
for screw-propellers. The first style of propeller used was
called the " one threaded " screw. It was, however, found that

50G POPULAE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the entire turns were not necessary, and it was accordingly
formed with four separate fans. While one of the earliest
built vessels was running the measured mile in Stokes' Bay,
she took the ground for a short time. When she got off,
to the surprise of those on board, she went much faster
than before, and on getting into harbour it was discovered
that one of the four fans of the screw had been broken off.
Before it was repaired a similar accident happened to the
third fan. It thus became evident that a screw with two
fans was superior to all other forms, and such is that
now adopted. Several styles of propeller are in use. That
which is employed in the navy consists of two blades of a
heart shape, fixed at equal distances on the outside of a
hollow sphere. These blades or fans taper from the centre,
being at the base equal to the diameter of the sphere, the
object being to compensate for the different rates at which
the inner and outer portions of the fan move. Should a
fan become injured, it can be easily replaced. By means of
this sphere the great friction and resistance of the ordinary-
screw is avoided, and another great object is gained, as it
much lessens the vibration. Maudsley's feathering screw
is also much used ; it is composed of a couple of blades of
a shoulder-of-mutton shape. It can be locked vertically
when not in use, so that it causes no obstruction ; and by
means of a lever can be released and allowed to rotate. It
is, of course, of much importance to avoid the necessity of
having a well to raise or lower the screw, as it much
weakens the after-part of a ship. At first all screws were
so constructed that they could be lifted up through a well,
so as to be out of the way when it became necessary to let
off the steam and use sails alone. The funnels, also, were
made on the telescope principle, so that they could be shut
up and scarcely seen. A screw-steamer could thus in a few
minutes be converted into a sailing ship.

When at length the superiority of the screw as a means
of propulsion was established, not only were vessels built
expressly to be propelled by it, but as it was seen that it
would give great advantages to all men-of-war — indeed,
that they could not do without it, as in a calm they would
be at the mercy of any small steamer armed with long guns,

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT OF THE SCREW. 507

which they could neither reach nor pursue — the Admi-
ralty gave directions to fit nearly all the efficient line-of-
battle ships and frigates with it. By the year 1860, Eng-
land had 40 ships of the line, 19 frigates, 47 corvettes and
sloops, 13 block-ships and mortar-ships, 8 floating batteries,
and nearly 200 gunboats, gun-vessels, and other small
craft, fitted with the screw ; besides others converting or
building expressly for screws. This was irrespective of
80 old paddle-wheel corvettes and sloops, 9 paddle-wheel
frigates, and 170 sailing-ships of the line, frigates, and cor-
vettes ; but many of the latter, as was the case with many
of the paddle-wheel frigates, were old and scarcely service-
able. With other craft of various descriptions, the navy
of England, at that time, amounted to 750 vessels, the
majority being fitted with the screw. From that time but
few sailing-ships or fighting paddle-wheel steamers have
been built for the navy. The greater number of the
former not considered worth conversion, have been sold out
of the service or broken up. Several despatch paddle-
wheel steamers, however, have been launched, such as the
Helicon, Salamis, Lively, of about 940 tons and 250-horse
power as also the Sea-Flower training-brig for boys.

About the time of the Kussian war nine old line-of-
battle ships were converted into what were called block-
ships, each carrying 60 guns, with engines which were
unable to drive them more than six or seven knots through
the water. It was intended that they should be stationed
at various ports, their crews to be composed of coast-guard
men, and to act also as receiving- ships for volunteers, and
to serve in case of an attack for the protection of the har-
bours in which they lay. They were all of them sent up
the Baltic under Sir Charles Napier. At the same time,
for the purpose of serving in the Baltic, 161 screw gun-
boats were built, most of them under 240 tons, and of about
60-horse power, though many considerably under that,
and each carrying two to four guns. They were rigged as
three-masted schooners, and fitted with shields at the bows
and stern, which served the double purpose of sheltering
the guns' crews from the rifle-balls of the enemy in narrow
waters, and preventing the sea from breaking on board

508 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

when going head to wind. With careful handling they
proved very good sea-boats, and many of them made their
way out to China to serve in the last Chinese war. They
were all placed under the commands of lieutenants, with
crews of from 60 to 80 men. At this period we had
6 screw three-deckers, with the exception of the Royal
George, built in 1827, all new ships — namely, the Duke of
Wellington, built in 1852 ; the Royal Sovereign, in 1857 ;
the Maryborough, in 1855 ; the Royal Albert, in 1854 ;
and the Windsor Castle, in 1858 ; and 30 two-deckers,
nearly the whole of them new ships ; 19 new screw-frigates,
most of them masterpieces of naval architecture, such as
the Mercy, the Orlando, the Shannon, the Fort, and
others ; 14 screw-corvettes, carrying 20 to 22 guns ; and
33 screw-sloops, carrying from 4 to 17 guns, the greater
number of them being comparatively new vessels ; while
we had 80 paddle-wheel frigates, corvettes, and sloops.
Such, with the tugs, paddle-wheel yachts, and tenders,
formed the steam navy of England ; and we had reason to
congratulate ourselves that we possessed so efficient and
formidable a fleet, calculated to induce our enemies, who
might have wished to attack us, to keep the peace.

But our self-satisfaction was not to last long. The gun-
founders were at work. Whitworth and Armstrong, and
numerous artillery officers were exercising their inventive
genius in turning out guns to send their shot to distances
hitherto considered impossible. So long as only round
shot were used, large as they might be, and far as they
might fly, the wooden walls of old England had no reason to
dread them. We were very sure to be able to supply our
ships with guns as large as any that could be manufactured,
and though the guns might be rifled, or breech-loaders, or
of prodigious size, the said wooden walls would be able, it
was hoped, to withstand the round shot sent from them.
But when steel conical-shaped missiles were invented
which would go through one side of the stoutest wooden
ship and out at the other, and could with equal facility
penetrate the ordinary iron-built ships, naval men began
justly to feel uncomfortable regarding the safety of our
wooden walls. In truth, as the year 1850 may be con-

THE ERA OF IRON-CLADS COMMENCES. 509

sidered as closing the era of sailing vessels, so in that of
1860 it was very evident that wooden-sided vessels were
no longer capable of taking part in naval engagements.
At the former period we had about 86 ships of the line,
104 frigates, and 79 smaller craft, not one of which were fit,
without great alterations, for vessels of war. In the latter
period we had 95 line-of-battle ships, 96 frigates, 11 block-
ships and mortar-ships, 214 sloops and corvettes, besides
numerous small craft, among which could be reckoned 188
gunboats and gun-vessels, the latter, undoubtedly, from
their power of rapid movement and the heavy guns with
which they were armed, capable of taking an effective part
in warlike operations, either at sea or close to the coast.
But this large force, constructed at the expense of many
millions, was now doomed as almost useless for warlike
purposes. Even the materials of which they were com-
posed would be of little avail ' for the new order of ships
which were now to be constructed. Up to that time, so
little had the Admiralty conceived the necessity forced
upon them, that in 1859 and 1860 they had launched or
converted into screw-ships no less than 17 ships of the
line — namely, the Victoria, Howe, Duncan, Gibraltar,
Anson, Atlas, Prince of Wales, Revenge, Hood, Conquer 'or,
Neptune, Frederick William, St. George, Trafalgar, Irre-
sistible, Lion, and Queen; and 10 fine frigates, the Itn-
mortalite', Liverpool, Newcastle, Phoebe, Severn, Narcissus,
Phceton, Ariadne, Galatea, and Bacchante; while 12
line-of-battle ships and 13 frigates remained unfinished
on the stocks, or were in the course of conversion into
screw-ships, all built in the old style of wood. The
line-of-battle ships were produced, each at a cost of from
£200,000 to £250,000, while each of the frigates cost
£150,000. Some of these ships and frigates have been
allowed to retain their original form, and are em-
ployed as training-ships ; while 7 of the line-of-battle ships
have been cut down and converted into iron-clads, for
which, however, their framework is scarcely of sufficient
strength to render them efficient. At that time several of
the ships I have mentioned were considered the most
perfect models which had ever belonged to the British Navy,

5lO POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

and yet, already has their glory passed away, and they are
classed among those which, as war-ships, are nearly useless.

Iron had now to take the place of wood in naval archi-
tecture ; and not ordinary iron alone, but the sides of
British ships of war were forthwith to be covered by plates
many inches in thickness, and even those thick iron plates
were shortly to give way to plates of steel. The same
motive power was to be used, but the former material was
to be completely changed. As far as fighting-vessels were
concerned, every ship in the Royal Navy might have gone
to the bottom and the nation would not have been greatly
the poorer, except in the loss of so much firewood, and that
of a few vessels used as training-ships, receiving hulks,
powder and coal depots, and for other similar services.

The fact being established that wooden-sided ships could
no longer withstand the projectiles discharged from the
newly-invented guns, the Admiralty, backed by the nation
at large, set manfully to work to reconstruct the British
Navy according to the requirements of the day. The
necessity of building these armour-coated ships arose, as
I have said, from the immense power which the newly-
invented guns possessed of projecting their shot and shells,
and the destructive effects of the latter when penetrating
a ship's side or falling on her decks. A few words, there-
fore, will be necessary on the subject of guns.

Whitworth led the way by rifling his guns, which are
hexagonal, while the projectile is of a longitudinal form,
and either fits mechanically or adapts itself by expansion
to the grooves through which it passes; and provision
being made for the requisite amount of windage, the
aberration to which spherical shot are subject is obviated.
One of his guns, -of the bore of a 24-pounder, can project a
shot of 48 pounds to a great distance, and with more accu-
racy than a gun of the old form could send a spherical
shot. Projectiles of this form can be employed as solid
shot, shell, or case. A shell fired from it is indeed formid-
able, as it explodes at the moment it passes through the
timber, and the smaller the hole it makes, the more con-
fined will be the explosion, and the greater therefore the
shattering effect produced. Formidable as these guns are,

GUNS VERSUS ARMOUR-PLATING. 511

they have been surpassed by those invented by Sir William
Armstrong, which are of wrought-iron, with prodigious
range and great precision. They are also, though of enor-
mous size, lighter than the guns of the old style would be
if made capable of throwing a similar projectile. At first
it was supposed that the construction of the Armstrong gun
would be very slow, but in this the public were wrong, for a
single factory in one year, 1860, produced a thousand large
guns, and since then the power of production has been
greatly increased. So greatly has the size of guns increased
that we no longer name them according to the weight of
the missiles they project, but from the weight of the guns
themselves. At first guns weighing 12£ tons were con-
sidered very large, and required ingenious contrivances to
work them, and as they are rifled, their shot, which no
wooden-sided ship can withstand, fly to immense distances.
These guns are, however, mere playthings compared to the
48-ton guns with which the turrets of the Devastation and
Thunderer are armed. The Woolwich Infants were looked
upon as of prodigious size, but they have been surpassed
by a gun of 87 tons, which can send a shot five miles with
such perfect precision that a skilled gunner can lay the
gun so that a shot may strike an object though out of sight,
provided he knows the distance it is off. The new turret-
ships are to be provided with one or more of these enor-
mous guns, which are considered to be capable of knocking
to pieces the strongest armour-plated vessel. Large as
they are, others are to be cast of 110 tons. The struggle
at present is indeed between the size and power of guns,
and the thickness of armour-plating, and the question is,
Which will win the day ? Happily, England possesses
materials for forming both, and science and skill for manu-
facturing either one or the other, so that if we persevere
we need not fear being beaten in the race, much as we may
regret the stern necessity which compels us to exhaust so
vast an amount of labour and energy in constructing engines
of war, which might so much more satisfactorily be em-
ployed in adding to the comfort and increasing the pro-
sperity of the nation. However, we have to take the faots
as they are, and our business is to keep the peace and to

512 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

guard ourselves by every means in our power against
attack.

To return to the subject of the guns. Even more
destructive than the shot are the shells discharged from
them. These are of various descriptions; some so con-
structed as to burst at a given time after they have left
the gun. This is done by a time fuzee ; a jet of name is
produced at the moment the shell leaves the gun, when,
by means of a cover which revolves at a certain rate and
as a passage through it, the jet of flame sets the fuzee
alight at the moment required, when it ignites, after burn-
ing a certain length of time, the powder within the shell.
A shell can also be made to burst upon striking an object ;
a brittle pin, to which a weight is attached, breaks by the
concussion, and falls on a patch of detonating composition,
which ignites the charge in the shell. The next invention
is that of a shell containing water, in which a few skeins
of gun-cotton are placed. The latter may be fired by
detonation, but by no other means, and it has been found
on experiment that the combined action of gun-cotton and
water is to break the shell into fragments ; so that the
common shell may be made almost as effective as a shrapnel.
This is the invention of Professor Abel, who has submitted
it to the Government, and it has been, I believe, approved.

There are several other means of igniting shells, which
have entirely superseded the old fuzee, which was apt to
fall out or become extinguished, or to fail of being ignited.
Indeed, the accuracy with which shells can be fired, the
contrivances for igniting them, and their destructive effects,
have made the same advance as other engines of war.

Various means have been contrived for working, load-
ing, and firing these > enormous guns, and great has been
the change since the days of yore, when guns were fired
with a slow match or hot poker. Flint locks were
first invented. Next came the cross-headed detonating
quill tube, which was a small quill about three inches
long, filled with detonating powder and covered with
sealing-wax at the top. This was placed in the vent or
touch-hole, and fired by a blow from the hammer ot
the lock, secured to the top of the gun on the right

MODE OF WORKING HEAVY GUNS. 513

side of the vent-hole. The captain of the gun, holding
the trigger-line attached to the lock in his right hand,
and pulling it with a quick jerk as soon as the object to
be fired at came on with the points of sight, or the
dispart and tangent sight, he at the same time had to
jump on one side to keep clear of the gun recoiling on top
of him. Friction tubes came in next. They are very
similar to the cross-headed tubes, but instead of a piece of
quill being inserted in the top at right angles to the tube,
there is a piece of copper, which is jagged. To this copper
the trigger-line or laniard is hooked, and the friction
caused by pulling out sharply the little piece of copper,
explodes the tube and fires the gun.

Armstrong's breech-loaders next came into use, and are
still used for boat service, and field-pieces, and some of
our gun-vessels, of the Swallow, Woodlark, and Vulture
class, carry two 40-pounder Armstrongs — one in the bow
the other in the stern, besides their other armament,
consisting of a 7- ton muzzle-loading gun amidships. In
the breech-loader, the barrel contains the bore, the shot,
and the powder, the bore and seat of shot are lifted, but
the powder chamber is not. There is a slot cut in the top
of the breech, and when the shot and powder have been
pushed up into their proper position, a plug of wrought
iron, called a vent-piece, is dropped into the slot, and
firmly secured in its place by what is termed the breech-
screw. A tube is inserted in the vent-piece and fired in
the ordinary way.

The great difficulty was to work these heavy guns, till
a plan was invented by the late H. D. P. Cunningham,
formerly in the Royal Navy, and which, slightly altered by
Captain Scott, R.N., has been adopted on board ships of
war armed with heavy guns. It consists of a system of
nippers, and chains, and cogwheels, and is so simple that
it can instantly be screwed to the carriage of a gun, and if
shot away replaced. The gun is trained forward or aft by
a chain sunk in a groove in the deck, of an arc shape,
which the nippers take up as it passes over the machine,
turned by a winch. It is run in and out by the same
contrivance. Another ingenious device is also employed

2 K

514 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

for loading large guns. The heavy shot are lifted from the
rack by a tackle to an overhead railway, which carries them
to a point just above the muzzle of the gun, when the
tackle is lowered, and one man can then slip in the shot.
The gun is made to work in and out on an air-tube placed
below it, by which also the violence of the recoil is broken,
and the danger of its overturning prevented.

A wonderful little machine called the hydraulic jack is
now used on board men-of-war for the purpose of lifting
the huge guns or their carriages, or any other great
weight. It has the appearance of a short, stout pump,
and is so light that one man can carry it with ease ; yet,
insignificant as it looks, I saw one actually made to lift the
deck overhead, with all the guns on it, sufficiently to
remove an iron stanchion out of its socket.

There is a still newer application of hydraulic power, by
which the vast guns can be elevated or depressed, or
trained on one side or the other, or run in and out by
three men. A further application of the same principle
has lately been invented by Mr. Kendall, a member of Sir
William Armstrong's firm, by which the heaviest shot are
not only lifted but rammed down the gun with the
greatest possible ease. It is denominated " the hydraulic
shot-lifting and ramming apparatus." It has been adopted
by the Admiralty, and is considered in every way perfect.
It was a great desideratum, for the loading arrangements
of the largest guns were before slow, clumsy, and unsafe,
and by its means the power and rapidity of firing them
will be much increased.

Thus, at the same time that the size of our guns has
been so prodigiously increased, the means of moving them
with even greater ease than the infinitely smaller guns of
former days has been discovered. The guns and their
projectiles, such as I have described them, having been
invented, were first tried against targets of the thickness
of the stoutest sides of men-of-war, when the shot passed
completely through them, or the shells tore them to pieces.
The targets were then covered with sheets of iron, in each
successive experiment increasing in thickness. Through
the first the shot went with the same ease as through the

TURRETS INTRODUCED. 615

wooden target; then they tore the iron open, but stuck
fast. Next they merely indented the iron shield, and
finally glanced off, but not till it was made of between four
and five inches in thickness. It was thus generally sup-
posed that armour of this description would be sufficient
protection for ships of war against any shot which could
be fired against them, although this may have been
doubted by a few of the most scientific gun-manufacturers
or inventors. The Admiralty and naval architects, at all
events, thought the matter settled, and immediately set to
work to build armour-plated ships, and to shield more of
our already existing wooden ships. It was soon perceived
that our high-sided line-of-battle ships could not by any pos-
sibility bear even the thinnest coat of armour which would
be of any service, while it was also obvious that the smaller
the mark a ship could present to the enemy the better.

About this time a plan had been invented by Captain
Coles for placing on the deck of a ship shifting shields or
turrets, through ports in which the guns might be run out,
while the crew within them were protected from the shot
of the enemy. The shield invented by Captain Coles
consists of a common turn-table, on which rests a gun-
carriage, so that the gun may be turned round on the
centre in any direction. This turn-table carries a shield
or shot-proof protection round with the gun. The shield
may extend circular-wise all round the gun and turn-
table, and may be open entirely at the top for the sake
of ventilation, or may be closed in where exposed to a
vertical fire. The shield can be closed all round so as to
form a complete turret. By this means, however, the
gun and crew are only partially protected, and should the
ship be engaged with enemies on opposite sides, there
would, of course, be no protection on one of them. It was
considered, therefore, important to make the shield circular
so as to form a complete turret, and also to cover it with
a shell-proof roof at the top, by which means it becomes a
perfect cupola. The latter, as the most effective form, was
soon adopted, and gunboats alone are fitted with the
simple shield. These cupolas, however, shelter only the
guns and the gunners within them — they neither protect

516 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

the ship, the engines, nor the rest of the crew. They
are merely, indeed, armoured gun-carriages.

During the civil war in America the Federals sent two
wooden-sided frigates with cupolas fixed on, their decks to
attack the Merrimac, an iron-coated steam-ram, a cut-
down wooden frigate belonging to the Confederates. The
latter attacked her two antagonists ; steaming up towards
the Congress, she delivered her fire with awful effect, and
then proceeding towards the Cumberland, ran into her
near the bow, ripping an enormous rent in her side, and
hung on by her own sharp prow while she fired into the
fractured chasm. She then backed out and repeated her
tremendous onslaught, suffering little from the fire of
her enemy, till the latter went down. She next attacked
the Congress with shells, which killed the greater number
of the Federal crew, and in half-an-hour the few survivors
hauled down their colours.

The Admiralty, taking a lesson from this and similar
encounters, came to the conclusion that turret or cupola
ships to be of any use must also be armour-plated. Before
building any iron-clad turret-ships, it was resolved to
make an experiment on one of the old line-of-battle ships,
and the Royal Sovereign, a magnificent line-of-battle
ship, of 131 guns and 3760 tons, was fixed on, one of the
largest men-of-war ever built — exactly, indeed, of the size
of the Duke of Wellington. Her taunt and graceful masts
and her three upper-decks were taken off her, her lower-
deck alone remaining, so that she was cut down almost to
the water's edge. To her sides and over her remaining
deck massive plates of iron 4| inches thick were securely
fastened, and she was then converted into an armour-
plated ship. As yet she had no means of aggression ; to
give her this, four cheese-like constructions of thick iron
were placed in a line fore and aft on this deck, or rather
sunk into it and made to rest on the former orlop, or
what was now the lower-deck. These were the cupolas.
Three of them contained each one huge gun carrying shot
of 300 pounds, and the fourth and foremost contained two
guns. These four turrets, which together occupied the
greater part of the deck, were made to turn by means of

A CONVERTED IRONCLAD TURRET-SHIP. 517

machinery, so that their guns could point in nearly every
direction ; and there was just space to allow the guns to be
run out and in sufficiently to load them. Each of the
turrets, with the exception of the foremost one, had but
one port, which could be made to close by an iron shutter.
The after gun could not point quite aft, nor the fore-
most quite forward, while the guns in the three centre
turrets could not, of course, point by several degrees fore
or aft ; but again, by turning the turrets, they could be
fired on both sides. The muzzles of the guns were placed
only a little way above the deck. The bulwarks were of
iron and secured by hinges, so that when the guns were to
be fired they were allowed to drop over the sides. The
shrouds also were unhooked and secured round the masts,
so that the guns could have free play in almost every
direction. At a short distance off from her only her
turrets and stumpy masts appeared above the water. On
her deck was a circular box about midships, rather higher
than the turrets; this was the captain's fighting-box.
Here he was intended to take his stand, and by means of
tubes could communicate with the engineers, the helms-
man, and with each of the turrets. The wheel was placed
in the centre of the ship near him. The accommodation
below for the officers and crew was very limited, the
turrets and their machinery of course occupying the larger
portion of the centre of the deck. Such was the first con-
verted iron-clad turret-ship. Although her means of
offence were considerable, it was soon found that she had
little power of resistance. She drew too much water to
serve for harbour defence, and at sea she could be easily
rammed or boarded or destroyed by torpedoes, so that she
was in a short time put out of commission and laid up in
ordinary at Portsmouth, probably never to render the
slightest service to the country.

The Warrior was the first sea-going iron-clad launched,
and her cost, exclusive of ordnance and ordnance stores,
was about £376,000. She mounted 32 guns, 28 of which
were of 6£ tons and 4 were of 9 tons, with a crew of about
700 men. She was armoured with plates 4£ inches thick
for about 200 feet of her midship length, and extending

518 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH

from the gunwale to five feet below the water, with 18
inches of teak backing interposed between the armour
plating and the skin of the vessel. She has athwart-ships
bulkheads of similar armour and construction, thus render-
ing this portion of the vessel, as was hoped, shot-proof; but
her bows and after-part were unprotected. Though in
appearance, with her formidable armament, she looked a
fine ship of war, yet it was found that a 35-ton gun at the
distance of 5 miles could send its shot through her plated
side, as could an 18-ton gun at a distance of 4600 yards,
and a 12-ton gun at 2600 yards. She is 310 feet in length,
58 feet in breadth, 33 feet in depth from under the main-
deck, and measures 6038 tons. She is considered a very
fast craft, and can carry 900 tons of coal ; but that would
last her only for 5 or 6 days. The evident defect of the
Warrior from the first was, in order to lessen the weight
from the fine parts of the bow, that the whole of that
portion of the ship was unprotected, as was also the steering
gear,- so that it might easily be destroyed by an enemy's
shot.

Tho next large armour-plated ship added to the navy
was the Minotaur, designed in 1861, together with the
Agincourt and Northumberland. The chief object to be
obtained in their construction was the protection of the
hull throughout with armour of the same resisting power
as that of the Warrior, and to give them an equal speed
of 14 knots. The Minotaur was built at Blackwall by the
Thames Shipbuilding Company. She is of 6620 tons
measurement, and propelled by screw engines of 1340-horse
power, with a speed of 15 knots. She is 400 feet in length
by 59 in width, and carries 34 12 and 18-ton guns. On
the forecastle she carries 2 heavy guns protected by an iron
shield, which can be trained either to act as bo\v-chasers, or
to sweep the deck fore and aft in the event of her being
boarded by an enemy. She is frigate-built, and the mid-
ship port sills are 10 feet above the water. She is com-
pletely built of iron, even to the upper-deck. The bow is
constructed on the ram principle, with a swan-breasted
stem protruding some distance under water. For more
than two-thirds of her broadside to 5 feet below the

INEFFICIENT IRONCLADS. 519

water-line her sides are covered with iron plates 5| inches
thick, between which and the hull is a 10-inch teak-wood
backing. As the plates approach the stem and stern they
taper off to a thickness of not more than 2 inches, which
gives greater buoyancy to the extreme ends of the vessel.
As the ends are thus more vulnerable than the sides, and
a raking shot coming in might sweep the deck fore and aft,
iron-plated bulkheads are placed athwart-ships so as com-
pletely to inclose the main battery. There are sliding
doors, which are, of course, open when the ship is not in
action. There are also water-tight compartments, so that
should the ship be injured in one compartment, the water
cannot penetrate beyond it. In consequence of her great
length it was necessary to fit her with five masts. All her
lower masts are of iron, four are square-rigged, and she
carries double top-sails. Her masts are distinguished as
fore-mast, main-mast, after-main-mast, mizzeu-mast, and
after-mizzen-mast. She appears to the best advantage when
under sail, and looks a fine, powerful, fighting, sea-going
craft. She is said not to be a favourite with sailors, who
do not like her five masts. Indeed, sail is seldom set on
her two after-masts, but even then she carries considerable
weather-helm. Magnificent as she looks, her armour can
be as easily pierced as that of the Warrior.

Two other ships, the Agincourt and Northumberland,
were built exactly like her, except that the Northumberland
has the armour above the main-deck omitted from the
extremities, and confined to an inclosed battery less than
half the length of the ship. The hull of the Minotaur
weighs more than her armour, armament, machinery, coals,
and her whole equipment put together, and the armour is
equal to one-third of the weight of the hull which carries
it. She cost £478,000, and has a crew of 700 men. She
is thus one of the most expensive ships in the service, and
at the same time, grand as she looks, one of the most
inefficient.

We next come to the Hercules, a very great improve-
ment on her predecessors. She carries 14 guns, is iron-
built, of 5234 tons and 1200-horse power. She has 10 of
her guns protected, 8 of 18 tons and 2 of 12| tons, together

520 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

with 4 unprotected 6 J-ton guns. The weight of her broad-
side guns is 1818 pounds. Her armour is of more than
double the resisting power which her predecessors possess.
Her speed is the same, and she can turn completely round
in half the time that they can. From her form, which is
of less fine proportions, she requires 8500-horse power to
propel her at full speed, while the Minotaur is propelled
at the same speed with 6700-horse power. She cost about
£376,000, which is £100,000 less than the Minotaur, and
for this lower price a far superior ship has been obtained.
Her armour is impenetrable to a 12-ton gun at any range,
and even to an 18-ton gun along the belt amidships at any
range beyond 250 yards. Her engines being constructed
on a better principle than those of the Minotaur, she con-
sumes much less fuel ; thus, one ton of coal will carry the
Hercules 9 knots, while the same will only carry the
Minotaur 4J knots.

Belonging to the same class is the Sultan, an iron ship
carrying 12 guns, of 5234 tons and 1200-horse power. She
has the same thickness of armour and the same bottom,
but differs with respect to the armour above the main-
deck. Her main-deck battery being 12 feet longer, she
has no armoured gun at the after-end of the main-deck,
the after fire being obtained from an armoured battery
upon the upper-deck following in a line with the keel.
Instead of a single 12^-ton gun to deliver a bow-fire, which
the Hercules possesses on her main-deck, she has two
12|-ton guns on the upper-deck. The Sultan has thus
12 protected guns, 8 of 18 tons and 4 of 12| tons, and no
unprotected guns except some of small calibre. The weight
of the Sultan's broadside is 1964 pounds. She was built
with two bottoms, with iron cement between them. Her
stability is even superior to that of the Hercules, and her
steadiness is nearly as great.

The Monarch is built of iron, is a turret-ship carrying
7 guns, and is of 5102 tons and 1100-horse power. She
is thus somewhat smaller than the Hercules, and cost
£6000 less. The weights of hull of the two ships are
within 100 tons of each other, and the weights of armour
within 25 tons ; but the armour of the Monarch is spread

THE " MONARCH " AND " IRON DUKE " CLASS. 521

over a larger surface, being one inch thinner than that of
the Hercules. Her armament, however, is of much greater
weight, the guns which she carries in her turrets being
each of 25 tons weight, while the weight of her broadside
is 2600 pounds. Under steam, at what is called 5-knot
speed, one ton of coal would carry her 6| knots; while
under sail, with sufficient steam-power to keep the screw
going, she can make between 11 and 12 knots. This with
a favourable wind, so that she can use her sails half the
time and be under steam alone the other half, with one
ton of coal wdufd give her an average of 9 knots, and
would thus carry her about 4500 miles. Strong as is her
side-armour, she might be pierced by such guns as the
Devastation carries at the distance of 2f miles, while
her front-turret armour would be penetrable at 2300 yards.
She is fully rigged, and, before the loss of the Captain, had
very taunt masts and square-yards. In consequence of
that catastrophe, which was undoubtedly produced by the
amount of canvas carried by that unfortunate ship, her
masts and yards have been greatly reduced. Being much
shorter than the first iron-clads built, she is more handy,
and would prove more efficient in a general action. Her
upper-deck is of considerable height out of the water, for
she has a free-board of 20 feet ; but she possesses no bul-
warks— she has instead stanchions with canvas stretched
on them, which can be let down whenever her turret-guns
are fired. Good as are her qualities, she has been greatly
surpassed by lately-built ships.

The Vanguard stands, or rather did stand, as a repre-
sentative of her class. She was an iron ship, fitted with a
double screw, or as they are called, fixed twin-screws, of
3774 tons and 800-horse power, and armed with 14 guns.
Her strength, great as it was, could not withstand one probe
of the Iron Duke's ram under water. As the Vanguard
is at the bottom of the Irish Sea, we will take the Iron
Duke, which is in every respect like her. She has both a
main and upper deck armoured battery, and can command
an absolute all-round fire from 12-ton guns, protected by
armour, while she is at the same time fully rigged. She
carries six of these 12-ton guns in her main battery, four

522 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

in her upper battery, and has four 64-pounders'unprotected.
Her thickest armour is of 8 inches, and in other parts of G
inches, on 12 inches of wood, fixed on a 1^-inch iron skin.

The Audacious and Invincible are precisely like her,
and so are the Swiftsure and Triumph in many respects,
except that instead of fixed twin-screws they have single
lifting screws, and for this reason, they have two feet more
draft of water than the other ships ; and to enable them to
keep the sea as cruisers for longer periods, their iron
bottoms have been covered with a double-wood sheathing,
and over this a copper sheathing has been laid.

Another excellent quality of the Iron Duke class, with
regard to handiness under steam, is, that they will turn
completely round in four and a-half minutes.

On looking back to a class I have not yet mentioned,
the Defence and Resistance, launched in 1861, we can
judge of the great advance made in ten years. The De-
fence is an iron armour-plated ship, of 3720 tons and 600-
horse power, carrying 16 guns. She has 4|-inch armour
on 18 inches of wood, and a f-inch iron skin. Both her
ends, with all the steering gear, are unprotected. Such
armour as she possesses can be penetrated by all the
more powerful guns. Under steam she can make but llf
knots, while the Iron Duke class can make 13|.

I will now go on to the Devastation and Thunderer
class. The Devastation was the first sea-going ship of
war, properly so called, designed without sails. The Devas-
tation is a turret-ship, of 4407 tons and 800-horse power,
carrying four guns. She, it is hoped, will be able to keep
the sea for a long period ; she can carry 1600 tons of coal,
and going at a 5-knot speed, with one ton of coal can
make 5f, so that she would be able to perform a voyage
of 9200 miles. Her hull is protected by 12-inch armour,
and the armour in front of her turrets is 14 inches, so that
it would be impenetrable to such guns as the Monarch
carries at any range ; while her guns can penetrate armour
6 inches thick at the distance of nearly three miles. The
weight of her broadside is 2400 pounds, and she can be
worked by a crew of about 300 men. Her cost was
£320,000, less by £150,000 than the cost of the Minotaur,

THE " DEVASTATION " CLASS.

523

while she is a far more effective ship. In appearance she
is a regular marine monster, her hull, like a huge raft,
appearing but a few feet above the water. Towards either
end are her circular turrets. Destitute of bulwarks, her
vast hull floats at the after-part only 4 feet 6 inches above
the water, though, to render her capable of meeting bad
weather in mid-ocean, and of fighting an action there if
necessary, she has an unarmoured half-raised forecastle,
which gives her 9 feet out of the water forward. She is
thus said to have 9 feet of freeboard forward. Amidships
the freeboard has been still further raised to the height of
the platform on which the two circular turrets are placed.

THE "DEVASTATION."

Between the turrets rises the structure above mentioned,
the walls of which curve outwards all round towards the
top, on which is the hurricane-deck. This building is not
of solid iron, but is formed on the tubular principle for the
sake of lightness. A passage passes through it from side
to side, within which are the doors leading to the hatch-
ways and to the hurricane-deck above. Out of this hurri-
cane-deck rise the two funnels, the captain's fighting-box,
the shield, within which is the wheel and steering apparatus,
a hollow iron mast with a crow's nest on the top, as a look-
out place ; and also on this deck are stowed the boats at

524 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

sea, which are hoisted up by long iron davits. The mast
serves to sling a derrick by which the boats are hoisted in,
but is not intended to carry sail. Within each of her two
turrets were at first two guns, weighing each 35 tons,
placed side by side. The turrets, with the guns, can be
turned rapidly round, so that after fire has been delivered,
the open ports are whirled away from the direction of the
enemy. It was proposed to place one 50-ton gun in lieu
of the 35-ton guns in each of the turrets, and it is now, I
believe, the intention to place an 85-ton gun in one of the
turrets, if not in both. It would appear impossible that
such a ship could go to sea and live through a storm, or
fight the guns except in smooth water. She has, however,
been out in tolerably heavy weather, and behaved very
well ; though the forecastle of the Thunderer, which is
rather lower than hers, when she has been going ahead in
only a moderate sea, has been completely under water.
In a sea-way, the only part of the ship where people c<">ukl
remain, except below, without the risk of being washed
away, was on the hurricane-deck or inside the turrets; but it
is now proposed, I believe, to form an unarm oured bulwark
completely round her and ships of her class, so as to afford
shelter and accommodation to their crews, and to enable
them the better to keep the sea. The danger at first
apprehended for these ships was, that the weight of water
rushing over them would press them down and prevent
them rising to the seas; or, in other words, that they
would be smothered or foundered outright. The atmo-
sphere below is of course very close, and the only way to
improve it is by pumping air down from the hurricane
deck. Other ships are to be built with thicker armour
and carrying heavier guns, which will prove probably the
first-class fighting ships of the immediate future.

There is another class of masted turret-ships, among which
is the Inflexible, which is to carry four 81-ton guns in her
two turrets. The charge of each gun exceeds 2 cwt., and
the projectile fired from it weighs somewhere about 1400
pounds to 1600 pounds, or very nearly three-quarters of a
ton. The belt-line of the Inflexible will carry not less
than 2 feet of armour, not, however, in one thickness.

THE " INFLEXIBLE " CLASS.

525

Independent of the inner skin, there are to be two plates,
each of 12 inches. They are a considerable distance apart,
and between the two there is a compact mass of wood and
ironwork, so that when a blow strikes on the outer plate,
the shot will be distributed over a wide area. Supposing
a shell to be fired at the Inflexible from a distance of 1000
yards, the shell would explode as it passed through the
first plate, and its shattered fragments alone would reach
the second. Though the Inflexible is a turret-ship, she
possesses the advantage of a freeboard of 20 feet. The two
turrets carry armour of 18 inches in thickness, and are
placed on a line oblique to the keel, one to starboard and
the other to port, so that both may fire at the same instant

THE "INFLEXIBLE."

end on, or very nearly so. The guns will be loaded out-
side the turrets, the muzzles being depressed so as to
receive their charge up a species of hatchway, by means of
Sir William Armstrong's hydraulic loading machine. She
is to carry powerful engines, which will give her a speed
equal to that of the fastest of the former iron-clads. Not-
withstanding the important qualities she possesses, she
will cost a less sum than the Minotaur. Provided she

526 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

encounters no ship of equal power to her own, her sides
will be impenetrable ; but her own guns will be capable of
sending a shot which will break through such armour as
she carries, or even thicker. Should she ever meet a ship
carrying the same guns, dreadful, indeed, will be the struggle.
The first shot may prove momentous, and after all, a single
torpedo fired under her may send her to the bottom.

We may, ere long, hear of still more powerful ships, as
we shall of larger guns even than the 85-ton monster.
"Where the rivalry between gun and armour will end, it is
impossible to say, and we can only suppose that at length
the armour will be thrown off altogether, and that means
will be devised for keeping ships afloat, even though
riddled with shot. We can only wish that nations would
come to an agreement no longer to fight their battles
afloat, or, still better, give up fighting altogether.

Many of the mastless ships which have been described,
are intended not only for the defence of our coasts, but to
go up the Mediterranean, to cross the Atlantic, and to fight
even in bad weather in mid-ocean. Still, powerful as they
are, most of them must be looked upon as fighting machines,
mastless hulls with ugly superstructures, which outrage all
the seaman's notions of what ships should be.

"dSJatton" ana " Cgclopg."

A class of ships has been built for coast defence, and
we may take the Glatton and Cyclops as types of another
class of unmasted ships. The Glatton is a double-screw
single-turret ship, of 2709 tons and 500-horse power.
She has 12-inch armour on her sides, and in her turret
carries two 25-ton guns, and can steam at the rate of 12
knots an hour. She cost about £190,000 for hull and
engines complete. She is built on the same plan as the
mighty Devastation, though, from her low freeboard, less
able to keep the sea in bad weather. The Cyclops, of
2710 tons and 250-horse power, also an unmasted ship,
built on the same plan, has double-screws, and carries tAVO
turrets, each containing two 18-ton guns. The armour of
Jier sides is only 8 inches in thickness, and she has a speecl

f
RAMS. 527

of 10 knots. Her cost was about £140,000 for hull and
engines ; and, drawing comparatively little water, she will
be able to run up harbours, and when she possesses the
high bulwarks which it is intended should be added, she
may be safely navigated to any part of the world. Still,
serviceable as she may prove, there can be no doubt that
ships, or rather floating structures suited for coast defence,
may be built at a much less cost.

Such are the types of the principal line-of-battle ships
which England possesses ; though the two last must not
be classed as line-of-battle ships. Another class, however,
will certainly be called on to take their part in any naval
engagement — namely, the steam-ram, of which the Rupert
may be considered a type. She is iron-clad, of 3149 tons,
and 700-horse power, and carries 4 guns in a single
.turret. The Hotspur is a somewhat smaller ship, and
carries 3 guns. They both have double screws, which
enable them to turn with great rapidity ; also, if one
screw should be disabled, the other would be of use.
Both vessels are partially, though not fully, rigged. The
first is rigged as a ketch, and the other as a fore-and-aft
schooner. Their stems, which are of a spur shape, can
strike an antagonist under water; and, being formed of
iron and of immense strength, run no risk of being twisted
off in an encounter with another ship. Their turret-guns
are capable of firing ahead, and on either side. Though
all iron-clads are built with ram-heads, it is obvious that
a short, handy, yet powerful ship is best calculated to
deliver or avoid a blow, and that such should be the
character of rams.

The favourite frigate is still destined to exist in the
British Navy, and somewhat resembles those of former
days, though of much larger size. The Inconstant is a
type of her class. She is a screw-frigate, carrying 16
guns, of 4066 tons, and 1000-horse power. She is built
of thin iron, like an ordinary iron-ship, and is then
sheathed with wood, and her bottom is coppered. Under
steam she has very high speed, and carries sufficient sail
to enable her to cruise without any expenditure of fuel.
On the measured mile she attained a mean speed of

528 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

16| knots. Most of her guns are of 12| tons. The
Blonde, which is of nearly the same design, is armed with
6|-ton guns and 64-pounders. The Raleigh, another
iron-screw frigate, sheathed with wood, of 3215 tons, and
800-horse power, carries 22 guns, mostly 64-pounders, and
is not quite so fast a ship as the Inconstant. The Shah
is also built of iron, cased with wood, and carries 26
guns. Only a narrow strip of her upper-deck extends
right aft, the stern-ports on either side of it being thus
brought some way in from the stern. She can thus carry
two long stern-guns, placed well inboard, so as not to
weigh on the extreme after-part of the ship. She has
even greater speed than the Inconstant. These frigates,
as they are called, are to act as cruisers to scour the ocean
for the protection of commerce. Though without armour,
they need fear no armour-clad ships, as they can keep
out of their way, or only engage them at a distance;
while, from their powerful armament, they will be able
to give a good account of any ordinary cruisers they
may encounter.

We now come to a class of smaller unarmoured ships,
denominated corvettes. Like the previously named, they
are built of iron and cased with wood. The Boadicea
may be considered as a type of the class. She carries
14 guns, is of 2679 tons, and 700-horse power. The
Bacchante is exactly like her, but slightly smaller. They
are very fast, and will serve as ocean cruisers in the more
distant parts of the world, performing similar duties to
those for which the Shah and her class were built. They
are fully rigged, and extremely handsome vessels. They
are both lately built, have double bottoms, and are
divided into water-tight compartments, so that even if
rammed, or struck by torpedoes, they would have a chance
of floating. They would, if well handled, be able to avoid
both contingencies, and would, at all events, be able to
keep out of the "way of slow-moving iron-clads.

Another class of war-vessels has to be mentioned, the
gunboats. The present gunboats have entirely super-
seded those built for the Russian war. They range in size
from 250 to 400 tons, and mostly carry one enormous gun,

A SUMMARY OF EFFECTIVE SHIPS. 529

"which can be lowered into the hold at sea, and raised by
means of hydraulic-screws. In the bow is placed a serai-
circular iron screen, which serves to protect the. crew from
rifle fire, and to keep out the sea when going head to wind.
Most of them are fitted with double screws, to enable them
to turn rapidly ; indeed, all must be so fitted to be of use
both for the defence of our harbours, and for attacking
those of an enemy. They would prove of great service in
conjunction with such ships as the Olatton and Cyclops.

The following is a summary of the effective ships of
the British Navy as at present existing. It cannot be
said to be satisfactory. We possess altogether at present
under 40 sea-going armour-plated ships. Those of wood
and armour-plated, mostly converted, amount to 13, the
Royal Alfred, Caledonia, Royal Oak, Repulse, Lord
Clyde, Ocean, Prince Consort, Lord Warden, Zealous,
Favourite, Enterprise, Pallas, and Research; but none
of these, from the thinness of their armour, and from their
age, are fit for line-of-battle ships. Then we have 10
iron armour-plated ships, the Valiant, Defence, Achilles,
Warrior, Hector, Resistance, Black Prince, Agincourt,
Minotaur, and Northumberland ; but they, also, are too
thinly armoured for line of battle, and, besides, require
repairs. The more lately-built and most powerfully-armed
sbips are the Monarch, Sultan, Invincible, Hercules,
Triumph, Iron Duke, Bellerophon, Audacious, Swiftsure,
and Penelope. To this class belonged the hapless Cap-
tain and the Vanguard, both at the bottom of the ocean.
Of the survivors, the Monarch is insufficiently armoured,
and the Penelope is said to be an indifferent ship, and a
great roller. To these may be added three magnificent
turret-ships, which, when able to keep the sea and arrive
at the scene of action would, from the enormous guns they
carry, play havoc among any enemy they might encounter.
There are building four very powerful ships besides the
Inflexible, which has been launched, and will shortly be
ready for sea. She is an armour-plated, twin-screw, turret-
ship. Nelson and Northampton, double-screws, iron
armour-plated ; 12 guns each ; 7332 tons ; 6000-horse power
indicated. Temeraire, iron armour-plated; 8415 tons;

2 L

530 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

7000-horse power indicated ; to be armed with four 25-ton
11-inch guns, and four 18-ton 10-inch muzzle-loading.
Alexandra,, 12, double-screw ; building at Chatham ; 9400
tons; 8000-horse power indicated. We have, besides, 5
smaller turrets ; but they are unfit to go to sea ; and an un-
armoured squadron, not very numerous, and unable to
contend with iron-clads. It consists of about 3 frigates,
23 corvettes of new classes, built and building, and of
about 10 old frigates and 10 large corvettes of slow speed,
nearly worn out. At the same time, though this is the
case, we possess large dockyards, skilled workmen, mate-
rials, and ample means rapidly to construct a navy suffi-
cient to contend successfully with that of any other nation,
if not with the world, in arms against us. Our enormous
commerce, the protection of our numerous colonies, and
the safety of our shores depend on the wisdom of the

§overnment and the support which the nation will give it.
uch a fleet as England's requirements demand should be
built in time to meet any emergency which may occur.
We must not be deceived by the appearance of a ship such
as the Minotaur, which, when under sail, she may present
to an ordinary spectator, as she glides majestically over
the calm waters of the Solent. As a line-of-battle ship
she would be unable to take part in an engagement. Her
sides would be quickly penetrated by the shot of the
enemy ; Avhile her great length would incapacitate her from
avoiding the shock of a ram, or escaping from a rapidly-
moving, nimble, tortoedo vessel; and, in all probability,
she, with her gallant' crew of 700 men, would quickly be
sent to the bottom.

Hitherto in naval warfare guns have been the only
weapons used, with muskets, pistols, pikes, and cutlasses
when ships engaged alongside each other, and the crew of
one had boarded the enemy. At the present day, three
new weapons or modes of attack have been introduced —
the ram, torpedo, and submarine gun. The ram is simply
a sharp-pointed mass of iron, projecting under water from
the ship's stem, to which it is securely fastened, so that it
may pierce far down, the hull of an antagonist, and then
having ripped it open, back out again. All the new iron-

FEARFUL COMBAT BETWEEN RAMS. 531

clads are fitted with this destructive instrument, but some
vessels have been built expressly to carry it, like those I
have already mentioned, the Hotspur and Rupert. To be
effective, a ram-vessel must, of course, be very fast, and be
capable of turning rapidly to avoid being rammed herself.
She must be powerful to ram with effect, and she must
be thickly armoured to withstand the shot of the enemy
as she is seen approaching. Besides the shot from the
ordinary guns of the enemy, she should be prepared to
encounter those fired from submarine guns, as also from
torpedoes of various descriptions, which will be directed at
her. Thus, even when attacking an unwieldy antagonist,
she will run a considerable risk of destruction, and a still
greater one should her antagonist be as active as herself.
She, of course, may be armed with a submarine gun, and
be towing Harvey's torpedoes on either quarter, which are
pretty sure to come in contact with any vessel which may
attempt to ram her; or should she fail of striking her
antagonist with her ram, she may effect her purpose, the
destruction of that antagonist, with a torpedo — but this is
only supposing that her antagonist is unable to turn as
rapidly as she can, and is unfurnished with torpedoes or
submarine guns. Should both be armed in the same
manner, even though the enemy should be longer and less
nimble, it is difficult to conceive how the two should escape
inflicting such damage on each other as to be reduced to a
sinking state, if they do not simultaneously go down. Of
the ram nothing more need be said.

Practice in the new mode of warfare is most essential,
so that both officers and men should obtain confidence
in the fearful weapons with which they are destined to
wage war. We possess a large number of gunboats which
might without difficulty be fitted to represent two contend-
ing fleets. The bows of some might be lengthened with
light woodwork in the form of rams, while their sides
might be protected with buffers. Miniature torpedoes
might be formed of various descriptions, with charges
sufficient to indicate that they had taken effect, but not
such as could injure the vessels they strike ; some in the
form of Harvey's torpedoes, others as fish torpedoes, and

532

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

of any other description which may be invented. Every
class of vessel might be represented ; steam-launches might
do duty as torpedo-vessels or active rams ; and during the
summer months the waters of the Solent or of Plymouth
Sound might witness the evolutions of these mimic fleets.

The navy, however, is not asleep. Constant practice is
made with Harvey's torpedo. The launches, barges, and
pinnaces of the squadrons stationed in all parts of the
world are exercised in what are called "steam tactics,"
which afford excellent practice on a small scale in the.
various manoeuvres a large fleet has to perform.

RUSSIAN IRON-CLAD " POPOFFKA."

Cije

Circular

Of late, instead of continuing to build our iron-clads of
the enormous length of the Warrior, Minotaur, and
Northumberland class, we have reduced them consider-

CIRCULAR IRON-CLADS.

533

ably, and produced the Bellerophon and other vessels at
least 100 feet shorter, but with increased beam in pro-
portion, and consequently far handier in action, and yet
carrying more powerful armaments. Russia has gone the
whole hog, and has now produced two circular monitors,
intended for coast defence. One of them, named Popoffka,
in appearance is like an ordinary soup plate, with an
inverted saucer on the top. She is 101 feet in diameter ;
her displacement 2491 tons, and draught of water 12 feet
6 inches. She carries two 11-inch 26-ton breech-loading

PLAN OF DECK OF " POPOFFKA."

guns, which are placed inside a circular iron breast- work
in the centre of the vessel, and the guns fire over it.
Her armour is 18 inches thick all round. Her free-
board is only 18 inches; but the deck rounds up all
round to about 4 feet in the centre, above which stands,
along the middle of the vessel from the bow, first, a strong
deck-house, about 7 feet high ; then comes the circular
iron breast- work, and abaft that a large roomy platform, on
a level with the top of the breast- work. On this platform,
or " hurricane-deck," is the steering wheel and compass,

534 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

&c., and this is the only place on deck that can be perfectly
dry in a " sea-way." She is driven by six separate engines
working six screws, three on each side of the rudder, with
an indicated horse-power of 3000, but her speed is not more
than about seven knots. Her bottom is flat, with six keels,
three on each side of where the keel would be in an ordi-
nary vessel. Her rudder in shape resembles that of the
sailing river barge in the Thames and Medway.

The other monitor, the Norgorod, is a very similar
vessel, and is reported to have behaved with great steadi-
ness in a heavy swell, with a short, confused sea combined,
" in the Black Sea." The water sweeping in considerable
quantities over the deck, but with no heavy blows against
the deck-houses, which might have been expected, and
that whether the sea was rising under any part of the side
of the ship, or whether the side was descending upon the
sea, she drove out a wave of her own making from under
her, which wave, encountering the approaching one, opposed
itself to it, and greatly reduced, if it did not destroy its
velocity, and in many cases stopped the on-coming wave,
so that nothing but spray fell on deck ; but this sea is not
to be compared with the heavy seas met with on the broad
ocean, which would, without doubt, try her much more
severely. Still, with her low freeboard of 18 inches she
is a type of vessel possessing very remarkable sea-going
qualities ; but these vessels are simply intended for coast
defence, and, therefore, for use in shoal water, where they
could only be attacked with a fair chance of success by
vessels of a similar draught. There certainly are some weak
points about them, especially the long barge-like rudder,
and the six projecting screws, all of which might easily be
struck by a small ram and knocked to pieces. No doubt
this class of vessel will cause great diversity of opinion as
to what is the best style of iron-clads ; but I do not think
they will influence us in the least as far as ocean-going
iron-clads are concerned. And for coast defence a couple
of small flat-bottom gunboats, with double screws, might
prove of more service than any Popoffka, for gunboats can
be built to draw far less water, and not half the size, to
carry as heavy a gun, though not armour-plated.

FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE " INFLEXIBLE." 535

The Inflexible, already mentioned, the most powerful
ship afloat, was launched in April, 187G. Not only is she
more powerful to commit and resist injury than all her
predecessors, but she differs greatly from them in various
respects ; the most remarkable difference being the mode
in which her turrets are placed on her iron deck.

Her total length is 320 feet by 75 feet, with a displace-
ment of 11,407 tons. The depth of her hold is 23 feet 3£
inches, her freeboard is 10 feet, and her main draught
24 feet 5 inches.

Her two turrets are so placed on the sides of the deck,
and not in the centre-line of the ship, that all four of the
enormous guns she carries may be brought to bear ahead
or astern on any given object. The turrets are covered
with a single thickness of 18 inches of iron. The sides
of her citadel — as it may be described — the strongest part
of the ship, consist of a wall of 41 inches of iron and tim-
ber, and below the water-line there are 16 inches of
armour plate ; thus she loads the sea with nearly 12,000
tons of dead burden. She has a double bottom, and is
built in no fewer than 135 water-tight compartments. Her
rudder, of peculiar construction, is of the enormous weight
of 9 tons, and is steered by machinery hidden below the
water-line. Her 4 anchors weigh 10£ tons each. Her 4
guns of 81 tons each will carry a shot of 4666 pounds
with a charge of about 270 pounds of powder. She has
1 2 boilers with machinery of 8000-horse power, which will
drive her at the rate of 14 knots per hour. She has a
spur ram which she can mount or dismount as may be
desired.

Her estimated cost is £401,000 sterling ; the material
amounting to the sum of £259,000, and the labour ex-
pended thereon to £132,000, yet in some respects she is
economical compared with the types of other line-of-battle
ships, for her crew and officers will number only 350 men,
and so large is her stowage that she will carry sufficient
provisions for twelve weeks.

With her ram alone, driven as it will be by the 8000-
horse power of her engines, she would send to the bottom
any ship she may strike, while her shot would penetrate

536 POPULAR HISTORY OP THE BRITISH NAVY.

the thickest armour plating afloat on the ocean. Were it
not for those dreadful torpedoes, she would be invulner-
able ; but they are no bugbears, and a fish torpedo coming
up under her, in spite of her double bottom and numerous
compartments, would play havoc in her inside, if not cause
the destruction of her and her brave crew.

Mr. E. J. Read, M.P., no mean authority in such mat-
ters, is much in favour of circular iron-clads. From his
experience of those built by the Russian Government, their
chief characteristic, he observes, is that they are purely
and simply sea citadels, propelled by steam, without any
attempt to make them conform to the shape of an ordinary
ship. They have been designed for service in shallow
waters, and one of them, the Norgorod, steams at an
average speed of 7£ knots. She behaved remarkably well
both in a heavy and a slight gale in the Black Sea, where
her motion both as to rolling and pitching was very
moderate. A vessel of this form is also much more effici-
ently protected by her armour than one of the usual build.
It is of a uniform depth and thickness, at equal depths
throughout the whole extent of the vessel's circumference.

Besides their capabilities against the force of guns, they
also possess the advantage of being easily protected against
the attack of torpedoes, the area of the bottom being
much smaller than that of other ships.

They also answer the helm with promptness and cer-
tainty, while they have a much less proportion of steam-
power to citadel armour and guns than is usually given to
iron-clads. They can also be more completely protected by
armour, including that of the deck, than any other form
of ship.

These circular ships are valuable inasmuch as they exert
a stimulus in favour of reducing the length and increasing
the breadth of iron-clads. It may be some time, however,
before they are introduced into the British Navy, invalu-
able as they would undoubtedly prove for the defence of
harbours or the shallower waters of our coasts.

CHAPTER XXIII.

torpedo,
torpedo.

fft.ofr.ern (Shtrjitus 0f OTrtr.

ORPEDOES must next come under our con-
sideration. They are of numerous descrip-
tions, varying greatly from each other. The
principal ones likely to be used at sea are
Harvey's sea torpedo and Whitehead's fish

We will first have'/ a look at Harvey's sea

It is contained in a wooden case, and is of two
sizes : the largest is 5 feet in length, 6£ inches in breadth,
and 1 foot 8-f inches in depth ; the smallest is 3 feet
8 inches in length, 5 inches in breadth, and 1 foot 6 inches
in depth. The shape is an irregular figure, the foremost
end sloping downwards from the deck or top to the
bottom, and the after-end is perpendicular; both ends are
wedge-shaped for the purpose of sheering them well out
on the quarter of the vessel by which they are towed. It
has two levers on the upper side, which, on striking an
object, cause the detonating arrangement inside to explode.
Inside the wooden case is one of copper to contain the
explosive substance. The larger one holds about 80 Ibs.
of gunpowder, the smaller 30 Ibs. This case is launched
overboard from the vessel's deck, floated by two buoys
with a long line attached to it rove through blocks at a
yard-arm. As the vessel diverges from her fonner course,
and sweeps round to the same side on which the torpedo
is floating, and the line runs off from the reel, it is left
further and further from the ship, say on the starboard
side; still, however, making an onward progress as the
ship moves ahead. The vessel now steams on towards the

537

538

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

enemy; supposing the latter to be at anchor with the
torpedo floating at a distance on her quarter, she does not
steer directly for the enemy, but keeps at such a distance
that the torpedo at the end of the line must, as she passes,
cross her bows and strike her side. Harvey's sea torpedo

HARVEY S TORPEDO.

is intended to be used at night by fast low vessels built on
purpose, though it can be employed by any ships, and
under some circumstances even in the daytime. It has
the advantage of exploding only when in hugging contact
with the vessel attacked. The levers by which it is ex-
ploded are so placed in relation to the tow-rope that either
the side or top-lever is found to act invariably in forcing

TORPEDO CORK FLOATS.

down the exploding bolt at the instant of contact. It can
also be exploded by electrical agency. The mechanical
mode of exploding is preferred by reason of its being more
simple, more certain in action, much less liable to derange-
ment, and very much less expensive than the electrical.
Tt can, of course, be carried by any vessel, and in all pro-
bability every ship of war will be supplied with it. I

HARVEY'S TORPEDO.

539

have only given a general idea of the way it is to be used.
It should be understood that the torpedo can be made to
sink beneath the surface, so that it may strike the vulner-
able part of a ship below the armour plating, and it is a
question whether it would cause much damage should it
only strike the side of a thickly -plated armour-clad.
Under the water, from its effects being confined to a small
space, it is calculated to produce a hole in the thickest
substance of which the bottom of a ship can be composed.

TORPEDO VESSEL DESTROYING AN ENEMY.

Whitehead's fish torpedo is of a fish-like or rather of a
cigar form, the foremost end being like the point of the
cigar placed in the mouth. It is driven by machinery in
the after-end, worked by compressed air, stored up with
1000 pounds pressure to the square inch. This little
machine is made of Phophon bronze to bear the friction.
It has three cylinders to one crank, and drives the propel-
ling shaft at the rate of 2700 revolutions in one minute.
Those at first constructed were about 6 feet in length, but
others lately have been made 12 feet in length, and the

540 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

Germans, it is said, are experimenting with fish torpedoes
of still larger size. Mr. Whitehead received £15,000 from
the British Government for his invention ; but not being
bound to give the monopoly to England, he afterwards
sold it to the Italian Government, and then to the French,
receiving £8000 from each ; and so little care did they
exercise in experimenting on it, that some American
officers, then in the Mediterranean, ascertained its mode
of construction, and possessed themselves of all the infor-
mation necessary for making machines of a similar char-
acter. The secret, if so it can be called, has since been
obtained by other countries, and in any future war it would
be used, if used at all, by both parties. It is, however,
difficult to direct, either in a tideway or at a moving
vessel, as it it is liable to be deflected from its course.
Means have been invented, when sending it from the shore,
by means of wires attached to it, both to guide and fire it
by electricity. Should it strike a vessel, however, its effects
would be as destructive as that of any other torpedo.

The only vessel in Her Majesty's service fitted for the use
of these torpedoes is the Vesuvius screw, of 241 tons, and
350-horse power, 90 feet long, 22 feet beam, and draws
when deep 7 feet forward and 9 feet aft, with a crew of 15
officers and men to work her. She is built of iron, is
painted grey, and has a horizontal funnel on her deck,
which works very well with the help of an exhaust fan,
and when this is used, her ordinary funnel is lowered out
of sight. These torpedoes are started through a circular
tube or tunnel, which goes though the bows, under the
water-line. The firing or starting gear, engine-room, tele-
graph, and steering-wheel are all close 'together, and just
before the funnel. Most excellent practice has been made,
for in still water a stake has been struck at over 1000
yards. It would easily blow a hole through the bottom
of even the mighty Inflexible.

Notwithstanding the ingenious contrivances employed on
board the Vesuvius for launching the fish torpedo from a
tunnel below water, she will undoubtedly be the last of
her class. Since she was built, a method has been invented
for sending the fearful weapon overboard in such a manner

MODE OF PROJECTING THE FISH TORPEDO. 541

as to direct its course with accuracy, equal to that with
which she shot it out ; this is by means of a carriage, from
which the torpedo may be launched from the lower-deck
port of an ordinary ship. The carriage contains the
machinery for pumping compressed air into the torpedo,
and for afterwards directing its course. The Shah has
been supplied with one of these carriages, and it is found
to act with perfect efficiency. There is no reason why she
should not carry a dozen or more, and discharge instead of
shot these engines of destruction from her ports on both
sides. The cost of each is said to be rather less than
£2000 sterling, including the carriage, air reservoirs, and
fittings complete ; indeed, every fast-sailing ship might be
supplied with one or more.

Much experience and great care is necessary in their use.
Only lately a lamentable accident occurred in consequence
of the pipe that carries the water used to cool the heat
caused by the friction of the air-pump becoming stopped ; the
compresser thus overheated exploded, fragments of metal
flying in all directions,killing the principal engineer superin-
tending the operation, and dangerously wounding another.

Explosives have been discovered of such prodigious
power, that the exact guidance of a fish torpedo is of more
consequence than its size. The larger, however, from con-
taining more powerful machinery, can probably be more
exactly directed than the smaller.

A third torpedo is intended to be used by boats or
steam-launches. It is a case with levers or some similar
apparatus outside, which, on striking an object, causes the
explosive in the interior to go off. The smaller cases are
of a size to contain about 30 Ibs. of ordinary powder;
but far more powerful explosives are used. It is carried
at the end of a pole 28 feet in length, placed at the gun-
wale of a fast-rowing gig or steam-launch. As the enemy
is approached, the pole is shoved forward, and the heel
elevated so as to force the torpedo 10 feet or so below the
surface, and 16 feet from the boat's bows. Two such poles
and torpedoes can be carried on either side of a boat. As
a torpedo strikes the vessel, the boat, of course, must be
backed out, if not in the meantime discovered and sunk.

542 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

The sea that rises as the torpedo explodes would swamp
an ordinary boat, or even a launch, and they are therefore
covered in forward with a shield, which assists to protect
the crew also from the musketry of the enemy. A torpedo
gig or launch could only approach an enemy under cover
of the night to have the slightest chance of success, and
even then, should the enemy be on the watch, she would
either be sunk by shot or her crew picked off by rifle
bullets. The Americans, who have for some years experi-
mented with their torpedo boats of this description, do not
seem to hold it in much estimation, a writer in one ot
their naval journals observing : " Two things are necessary
in order that it may act as intended. First, the pole must
not be carried away either by motion through water, or by
the enemy's projectiles, before the powder-sack is in the
desired position under its bottom; and secondly, the
enemy must kindly remain quiet while he is being blown
up." He believes, also, " that any vessel properly handled
would elude either the fish or Harvey's torpedoes. The
six years' labour of a special torpedo institution, with a
corps of chemists, electricians, and naval scientists, have
produced a bag of powder at the end of a pole, to which
adding a certain amount of mystery, and we have a sum
total representing the practical achievement."

Several crewless torpedo-boats have been designed, the
first by a Mr. Morshand, who proposed to propel it by a
compressed air engine, and to steer it from the shore by
electricity. More recently, Colonel Ballard of the Royal
Engineers and others have proposed plans for steering
crewless torpedo-boats by the same agent. A more simple
plan has been invented by Mr. George Quick, engineer,
R.N., who suggests the use of a very fast torpedo-boat,
propelled by self-acting engines, the steam produced by
petroleum or dead shale oil, and steered by a light gig
towed astern by means of yoke-lines carried from the tor-
pedo-boat to the gig. As a proof of the possibility of
producing a fast torpedo-boat, he instances the Miranda,
built by Mr. Thornycraft, of Chiswick, which is 50 feet in
length, 5 feet 9 inches beam, and has attained a speed of
18 miles an hour, It would, of course, be immaterial what

EMPLOYMENT OF GUN-<.'OTTON. 543

became of the torpedo after she had struck the foe, while
the crew would have some chance of escaping.

During the American civil war, a submarine torpedo-boat
was used. Three times she went to the bottom, and, on
each occasion, drowned all on board. Being recovered, at
length having blown up the vessel she attacked, she, with
her fourth daring crew, were at the same instant engulphed
with their sinking victim. It is very possible that similar
attempts may again be made, when men are found ready
to sacrifice their lives for the destruction of an enemy's ship,
for it is more than probable that even when successful, a
submarine boat wouldshare the fate of the vessel she destroys.

With other subaqueous weapons must be classed the sub-
marine gun and rocket-tube, which are intended to be fired
from the bottom of one vessel into that of another; but their
effects are not so destructive as those of torpedoes, and the
missiles they discharge are not likely to penetrate through the
thick bottom of a ship unless when fired at a short distance.

A far more destructive and dangerous weapon of war
has lately been found through a more intimate knowledge
of the nature and powers of gun-cotton, and the invention
of lightning-cotton. It is used in the following manner : —
A mass of gun-cotton compressed into about the size of an
egg is fastened to the end of a line, composed of what is
called lightning-cotton, a lump is thrown from a steam-
launch or fast-rowing boat into an enemy's boat, and before
the crew of the latter have time to throw the lump over-
board or to cut the line, the boat from which it is thrown
has passed on, and the end of the line is fired. In spite of
the line passing through the water, it instantaneously
explodes the lump of gun-cotton with a force so tremen-
dous, that the boat, with all on board, is shattered to frag-
ments. On seeing this experiment tried in Portsmouth
Harbour a short'time ago, I felt convinced that all attempts
of one vessel boarding another, or of boats attacking a
vessel must, except in rare instances perhaps, be abandoned.
On the occasion I speak of, a large cask, with the head
knocked out, was used instead of a boat, and a small
lump of gun-cotton thrown into it from a steam-launch,
with a shield over her bows, and which forthwith backed

544 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

away as fast as she could move. On the lightning-cotton
being fired, the lump exploded, shattering the cask into
numberless fragments, one of which went whizzing through
the air at no great distance from the ship on whose deck
I was standing. The experiment showed what fearful
destruction would be produced among a boat's crew by the
same means; but seamen, brave as they are, would not
knowingly run their vessel into the midst of the maelstrom,
or rush on to the deck of a burning ship when the flames
are on the point of reaching the magazine ; and when they
know that on reaching the side of an enemy, one or more
of these fearful little explosives will be hove into their
midst, they will hesitate to attack a ship which they have
reason to suspect is armed with them.

One objection to our low freeboard ships was, that they
might easily be attacked by the boats of an enemy and
their limited crews overpowered ; but now, when in order
to defend her effectually, it would be necessary only to tell
off a man for each approaching boat, to be armed with a
lump of gun-cotton and the means of firing it, all such
fears may be discarded. Our seamen are being trained to
the use of these explosives, and no enemy would therefore
venture to attack a British ship when it is known that
such is the case; but as it is pretty certain that other
nations will train their men to the use of these gun-cotton
explosives, British sailors must abandon the old style of
cutting out enemy's vessels with their boats.

There is yet another use to which gun-cotton is put in
marine warfare. A small lump of it, scarcely larger or
thicker than a pair of hands pressed together, is secured to
an iron chain cable, and ignited by the lightning-cotton,
when it completely shatters the stoutest link. During the
experiments on torpedoes which I lately witnessed, I saw
an enormous link severed in this way, and afterwards with
a still larger charge, three links of a chain of the stoutest
manufacture shattered to fragments.

The first invented torpedo of which we possess far more
practical experience than of any others must be mentioned.
It is that used in shallow waters for the defence of harbours.
Operations for exploding rocks underwater with bags of gun-

STATIONARY TORPEDOES. 645

powder have been carried on ever since Bickford invented
his waterproof fuzee, and especial attention was drawn to
the same mode of operation, when General Paisley, in 1839,
removed vast masses of the hull of the Royal George from
the waters of Spithead. Captain Warner, with his invi-
sible shell, which was in reality a torpedo, sunk a merchant-
vessel off Brighton, and more than a century ago, the
American Bushnell invented an apparatus used by his
submarine vessel, for attacking charges under ships'
bottoms. Between 1801 and 1807 another American,
Fulton, suggested the use of a submarine weapon, to which
he gave the name of torpedo, first offering it to Napoleon,
and then to the British Admiralty, who, however, declined
to take advantage of his invention. He, indeed, more
than any one else, brought this infernal machine into
notice, and of late years it has been used by Russia, Austria,
Prussia, and the Confederate States of America. I have
already mentioned the very imperfect way in which the
Russians used it during the war with England and France.
The Austrians in a far more effective manner rendered
Venice unapproachable by laying down torpedoes in the
harbour. The Americans employed vast numbers, and
several of the Federal ships suffered from explosions.

What torpedoes really are will better be understood by
the effects they produced at that period. Among the first
Federal vessels which suffered was the Cairo, an iron-clad
gunboat. Hitherto these torpedoes had proved so harm-
less, not one exploding out of the many hundreds that had
been planted by the Confederates, that Federal officers did
not feel that respect for them to which they were entitled.
Still, it appears that boats had been engaged in searching
for those known to be laid down in the Yazoo River, in
which the Federal squadron was carrying on operations.
The Cairo, with other vessels, was about sixteen miles from
the mouth of the river, when, as she was following another
vessel, the Marmora, two sudden explosions in quick suc-
cession occurred, one close to the port-quarter, the other
apparently under the port-bow. The latter was so severe
as to raise the guns under it some distance from the deck.
The vessel commenced to fill so rapidly that in about three

2 M

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

minutes the water was over her forecastle. She was im-
mediately run towards the bank, and the pumps, steam
and hand, were manned ; but her frame was so completely
shattered that in about twelve minutes after the explosion
she sank, going totally out of sight except the top of the
chimneys, in six fathoms of water. On this occasion not a
man was lost, though the vessel sank so rapidly that a few
hammocks and bags which floated were alone saved.

On the 28th of February, 1863, the Federal monitor,
Mohawk, after attacking Fort M'Allister on the Ogeechee
River, Georgia, when at about 1000 yards below the fort,
struck a torpedo, which so materially injured her that had
she not immediately been run on a mud-bank, nothing
could have saved her from sinking. The explosion took
place beneath the after-end of the port boiler, and directly
under a 12-inch floor, cracking the plating of the ship to a
distance of 2 feet 4 inches, besides otherwise injuring her.

Several large torpedoes intended to be exploded by
electricity as well as by friction had been discovered in the
Mississippi, but by great care and vigilance had been
avoided, when, on the 22nd of July, the Baron de Kalb,
a strong iron-clad gunboat, while moving slowly along,
though no signs of torpedoes had previously been discovered,
ran foul of a torpedo which, exploded and sank her ; and
while she was going down another exploded under her
stern, her bow and stern being torn to pieces.

The expedition up the Red River was still more dis-
astrous to the Federal navy. The Eastport, a heavily-
armed and powerful iron-clad, steaming rapidly down the
stream, came in contact with a small floating torpedo, and
was so shattered by the explosion that she sank a harmless
wreck to the bottom of the river. The Commodore Jones,
a large and heavily-armed gunboat, was the next to suffer.
It was known that electric torpedoes existed, connected by
wires to the shore from which they were to be fired. She was
in advance of the squadron, with heavy drags out astern, and
was slowly moving ahead with a number of the small boats
of the fleet around her dragging and sweeping the channel,
when the pilot warned her commander that she was ap-
proaching the spot where he believed torpedoes were placed.

DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF TORPEDOES. 547

Her engines were immediately backed, but she bad hardly
gathered stern-way when, suddenly, without any apparent
cause, she appeared to be lifted bodily, her wheels rapidly
revolving in mid-air — then through her shot, to a great
height, an immense fountain of foaming water, followed by
a denser column thick with mud. She absolutely crumbled
to pieces, dissolved, as it were, in mid-air, enveloped by the
falling spray, mud, water, and smoke. When the turbulence
excited by the explosion subsided, not a vestige of the
huge hull remained in sight, except small fragments of her
frame which came shooting to the surface. Forty officers
and men, nearly all on board, were killed ; the few survivors
being dreadfully injured, with the exception of the engineer,
who, deep in the bottom of the ship, was working the
" starting-bar " of the engine, when he found what appeared
to him a chaotic end to his manipulations, and all recollection
was lost till he was dragged from the water into a boat, but
slightly injured. The torpedo had been fired from a pit near
the shore, and one of the men who had engaged in the opera-
tion was shot as he was endeavouring to make his escape.

The most terribly destructive casualty during the war
from torpedoes occurred in the attack upon the defences
of Mobile Bay by a fleet under Admiral Farragut. The
Tecumseh, a monitor, had commenced the action, and was
about to attack the Confederate ram Tennessee, when, struck
by a torpedo, she disappeared almost instantaneously be-
neath the waves, carrying with her her gallant commander
and nearly all her crew. A spectator gives a description of
the scene. He heard a cry that the monitor was sinking, and
looking overthe starboard-bow, saw the turret of the Tecumseh
just disappearing under the water, where an instant before
he had seen that noble vessel pushing on gallantly into
action after the capture of the forts. Five men were killed
and eleven seriously wounded by the explosion. It was at
the same time ascertained that the Tecumsek had been
destroyed by a large electric torpedo fired from Fort Gaines.

An expedition of wooden gunboats was ascending the
Roanoke River, when one of them, the Otsego, encountered
a buoyant torpedo, and was totally destroyed by its ex-
plosion, several of her crew being killed; and directly

548 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

afterwards the Bazeley, another gunboat, running up to
her assistance, was blown to fragments by a torpedo
exploding beneath her. At the same period the monitor
Patapesco, in Charlestown Harbour, was performing picket
duty, when she struck a floating or barrel torpedo, and
instantly sank in 5| fathoms of water, nearly every soul
below, to the number of 62 officers and men, perishing
with her. The Patapesco had at the time her torpedo
fenders and netting stretched round her, three boats with
drags ahead preceded her searching to some depth the
water they had passed, while steam-tugs and several boats
were in different positions on the bow, beam, and quarter.
The Federals were compelled in consequence, knowing
that the narrow and tortuous channel commanded by Fort
Fisher was filled with torpedoes, to abandon an attack on
it. The fleet, anchored below the forts, were assailed by
numbers of barrel torpedoes, but damage from them was
avoided by the activity of the boats which guided them
clear of the vessels and sank them by musketry. One of
the larger boats engaged in this dangerous duty was blown
to pieces, and four of her crew killed and wounded.

Shortly afterwards Admiral Dahlgren's flag-ship was
sunk by the explosion of a torpedo, early in the morning
of the 1st of March, 1865, in Georgetown Roads. Happily
the chief action of the torpedo took effect between the
gangways and the ladder leading to the upper-deck, an
open passage-way, and owing to this circumstance but one
life was lost. On the 28th of the same month the turret-
ship Mihuaukee, while chasing an enemy's vessel up the
Blakeley River, was struck by a torpedo about 40 feet
from her stern. In three minutes the stern sank, but the
forward compartment did not fill for nearly an hour after-
wards, affording an opportunity to the crew of saving most
of their effects, not a single man being injured. Her
hull was, however, so completely shattered by the ex-
plosion that all efforts to raise her were unavailing. The
Osage, in the same direction, was about to come to an
anchor, when a torpedo exploded under the bow, and the
vessel immediately commenced sinking, fortunately in
little more than two fathoms of water. On this occasion'

AMERICAN VESSELS DESTROYED BY TORPEDOES. 549

2 men were killed and 8 wounded, while scarcely any-
thing was saved from the vessel. The Rodolph, while
proceeding to attempt the raising of the Milwaukee, was
struck by a torpedo under her starboard-bow, and a hole
being formed 10 feet in diameter, she sank immediately,
with a loss of 4 killed and 11 wounded. The Scotia also
ran against a torpedo, which caused a terrible explosion",
breaking the beams of the spar-deck, tearing open the
water-ways, and committing other damage. She sank
immediately, carrying down several of her crew. The
Althea was also struck, and sank immediately, with
the loss of 2 men killed and 2 others wounded. Thus
altogether 7 monitors and 11 vessels of war were totally
destroyed by submerged torpedoes ; several other vessels,
iron-clads and wooden, were temporarily disabled, while
during all the operations not a vessel of any kind was
lost, and but few materially damaged, by the heaviest
artillery yet employed in actual warfare. Such were the
results of the employment of harbour or coast-defence
torpedoes, in spite of the knowledge of their existence and
all the vigilance used to avoid them. Others of a different
character were also employed, with on one occasion even
more fearful results, and at length the Federal party were
compelled to use them against their opponents. The first
may be called defensive torpedoes, the latter offensive.
They were of various forms and sizes, usually made of
stout copper, though sometimes barrels were used con-
taining from 50 to 150 Ibs. of fine powder. They were
fitted in the same manner as I have already described the
torpedo to be used, by gigs or launches. Iron boats were
constructed of a canoe-shape, impelled by steam, which
attained a speed of 7 knots an hour. The name David
was somewhat blasphemously given to this form of craft,
likening her from her diminutive size to David of Holy
Writ when about to attack Goliath, and the name was
afterwards generally applied to all boats of the same
description. The first vessel attacked was the Ironsides ;
when off Charlestown, on the night of the 5th of October,
1803, about 9 o'clock, a small buoy was descried by the
sentry approaching the ship from seaward. Being taken

550 POPTJLAK HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

for a boat, it was hailed in the usual manner. A rifle-shot
from the now rapidly-approaching craft was the only reply,
and the officer of the deck fell mortally wounded. At
the same instant a tremendous explosion alongside shook
the huge hull of the Ironsides to its centre, an immense
column of water deluged her decks, and for a moment
there was considerable confusion and alarm, during which
the torpedo-boat drifted out of sight. Boats were sent in
pursuit, when the captain of the torpedo-boat, who, believ-
ing her to be going down, had jumped overboard, was
picked up floating on a life-buoy. From his information it
was ascertained that four men constituted her crew, and
that her torpedo contained 60 Ibs. of powder. Having
been struck only just below the surface, the injury was not
sufficient to sink the ship. Every means to guard against
a similar attack was taken ; besides numberless steam-tugs
and boats rowing guard all night, booms, nets, and other
devices were used to defend the iron-clads constituting the
inner blockade; but no fears were entertained for the
outer vessels, which were distant and difficult of access.
That this opinion was fallacious was soon proved. The
Houssatonic, a heavily-armed steam-sloop of war, was
lying on the outside blockade of Charlestown Harbour,
when, on the night of the 17th of February, 1864, the
officer of the watch discovered something in the water
about 100 yards from and moving towards the ship. It
had the appearance of a plank; and it came directly
towards the ship, the time from when it was first seen till
it was close alongside being about two minutes. During
this time the chain was slipped, engine backed, and all
hands called to quarters. The torpedo struck the ship
forward of the mizzen-mast on the starboard side, in a line
with the magazine, and in about a minute after the
explosion took place the ship sank, stern first, heeling
to port as she did so. There was time, however, for a
boat to be despatched for assistance, while most of the crew
saved themselves in the rigging, five officers and men
losing their lives, the commander also being severely
injured. The David at the same time went down with the
vessel she destroyed, carrying with her her crew of six persons.

A FRIGATE PUT TO FLIGHT BY A " DAVID.

551

The Minnesota was also attacked by a David, which
after exploding a torpedo against the snip's side, escaped,
notwithstanding that several guns were fired at her. The
iron-clad received numerous injuries in her interior,
although the copper was not even torn off or any inequali-
ties discovered on the bottom of the ship. Besides the far
more severe damages, a quantity of stores in the pay-
master's department were utterly destroyed, the contents of
boxes, barrels, and bales being inextricably mixed together.

DESTRUCTION OF SLOOP OF WAK BY TORPEDO.

While the fine steam-frigate Wabash, during the night
of the 19th of April, was on the outside blockade of
Charlestown, a David was seen approaching. The frigate
slipped her cable, and moved ahead at full speed, directing
the fire of her broadside and a fusilade of musketry in
the supposed direction of her diminutive assailant. A
curious and novel spectacle ensued : the mighty frigate,
with her tremendous armament and crew of 700 men,
absolutely put to flight by four men in a little boat of less

552 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

than a ton burden, whose only armament was a few pounds
of powder extended on a spar ahead of her. Not a shot
struck the David, which returned in safety to Charlestown.
, As an example of what a steam-launch armed with a
torpedo can do, I will give a brief account of the attack
made on the Confederate iron-clad Albemarle, in the
Roanoke River. The iron-clad was moored eight miles
up, close to a wharf, with a pen of logs round her about
thirty feet from her side. As she was the most powerful
ship possessed by the Confederates, and had already-
fought two successful engagements with wooden fleets, and
prevented the Federals from carrying on their operations,
her destruction was of great consequence, and it was
undertaken by Lieutenant W. B. Gushing, of the United
States' Navy. He selected for the undertaking an especi-
ally fast steam-launch, and had with him a crew of thir-
teen officers and men, volunteers from the squadron. He
had in tow a cutter, the crew of which were directed to
answer should they be hailed in passing the pickets. The
river averaged 200 yards in width, and was lined with
pickets, yet the launch steamed iip without discovery till
she was hailed by the look-outs on board the ram. The
cutter was then cast off, and the launch steamed towards
the iron-clad at full speed. The people on board the
iron-clad then sprang their rattles, rang the bell, and com-
menced firing. Making a complete circle, so as to strike
the iron-clad fairly, the launch went forward, and striking
the logs just abreast of the quarter-port, drove them in
some feet. The torpedo-boom was then lowered, and
the torpedo was driven in deep down under her side,
when it exploded, and a dense mass of water rushing in
from it, filled the launch, and completely disabled her.
The Confederates had kept up a hot fire all the time,
several people in the launch being hit ; but she had also
discharged a dose of canister from her gun, which had
greatly disturbed the enemy's aim. Mr. Gushing and
others leaped overboard, and he managed to swim down
the river with one man, the rest of his companions being
either captured or drowned, and ultimately succeeded in
reaching the shore and making his escape to his friends ;

TORPEDOES CARRIED BY STEAM-LAUNCHES. 553

•while the iron-clad almost immediately foundered at her
moorings. Though the steam-launch was sunk by the
torpedo wave, had she been better prepared to encounter
it, she in all probability would have made her escape
down the river without the loss of a man.

These examples tend to prove that a properly-con-
structed steam-launch may have a fair chance of driving
a torpedo into the side of an enemy, and of escaping un-
injured. It, of course, will be supposed that her approach
is not discovered, and after she has succeeded in exploding
the torpedo, the consternation and confusion which is sure
to ensue on board even a well-disciplined man-of-war will,
in most instances, prevent the marines or small-arm men
from taking a steady aim at her, while she will rapidly be
out of sight. A swiftly-pulling gig would have a still
better chance of effecting her object, but would have a
less chance of escaping being swamped by the torpedo wave.

From the experiments I have witnessed, I am sensibly
impressed with the enormous power of the torpedo. One
threw a column of water nearly 200 feet in height into the
air ; probably, from being placed in shallower water than
others, the whole force acting upwards. Others raised an
apparently greater volume of water to a less height ; but
each one was sufficient to destroy the strongest iron-clad
yet built. A considerable wave on each occasion was
created, and I consider that the wave would have been
greater had the column met with the resistance which a
ship's bottom would have offered, as it rose.

After the explosion, the boats pulled in to collect the
fish stunned but not killed by the concussion. Torpedoes
carried by steam-launches at the end of long poles, and
exploded against casks sunk below the surface, produced,
however, heavy waves, which, had not the launches been

Erotected forward by overhanging shields, would have
lied them with water.

The important point now to be solved is the best means
of protecting ships against the effects of torpedoes. Some
persons have proposed forming a sort of cancellated cylin-
drical-built hull at some moderate distance outside the
whole of the actually-immersed hull, so as to surround it by

554 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

a sort of continuous buffer. Others have suggested com-
pressible or crashable iron water-chambers outside the
actual hull. Others, again, have insisted that a double
bottom, the intervening space filled with water, would
effectually guard the ship from serious damage. From
the examples I have given, and from the experiments I
have witnessed, I agree with those who hold that, as the
explosive power of the torpedo may be increased without
limit, and as the stroke from even a very moderate charge
is proved to be so destructive, any attempts to make an
iron-clad ship torpedo-proof must be abortive. Some
naval officers have proposed fitting up the lower part of
the ship so as to form a dense body, with cork or other
elastic substance, which they call the raft principle ; and
others suggest that not only the bottom, but the sides and
ends of the ship — indeed, every portion not absolutely
required for the engines and a very limited crew — should
be filled up with cork. Another party propose what they
call the cellular system ; in this the cells are made to run
perpendicularly round the ship on the inside, and plugs
are to be kept ready to force down them, so as to stop
shot-holes — but none of these would be of the slightest
use against a powerful torpedo, which would drive the
water through the thickest interposing body. It must be
remembered that it is not the torpedo itself which causes
the destruction of the body, but the water forced upwards
by the gases evolved on its ignition. Thus, supposing
water-chambers in the bottom of a ship, the water within
them would receive the same impulse from the water
without, and would prove an agent of destruction rather
than of preservation. The only plan as yet contrived for
defending a ship at anchor from floating torpedoes is to
have outriggers of booms and spars round her to which
a wire net is hung ; but this would probably fail should a
steam-launch be run against it, or a Harvey sea torpedo be
dipped under the net, which can be done by suddenly
slackening the towing-line. It is necessary to keep the
boats rowing round her, so that the approaching torpedo-
boat may be attacked, sunk, or towed clear of the ship.
An exDeriment of this description was made with the

THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC INDUCTION MACHINE. 555

Monarch, on one occasion, anchored at Spithead. It was
considered that she was thus almost impregnable against
a boat-torpedo attack which had been arranged, though
she had the advantage of knowing that she was to be
attacked. The torpedo-boats, which were steam-pinnaces,
burst through her cordon of guard-boats, got over the
difficulty of the projecting net defence, and struck the
ship with their dummy torpedoes.

It was seen for some time that a brilliant light cast
around the ship could alone enable those on board to keep
an effective look-out against the approach of a torpedo-boat ;
and some time ago Mr. H. Wild, of Manchester, the inven-
tor of the electro-magnetic induction machine, fitted with
the proper apparatus for projecting the beam of light pro-
duced on distant objects, submitted to the Admiralty a
proposition for placing one on board a ship of war. The
Comet was selected for the purpose, and one of the machines
being placed on board, she steamed out to a position off
Brading, at the east end of the Isle of Wight, and came to
an anchor. Attacks were then made on her by two steam-
pinnace torpedo-boats, from directions unknown to those
on board the Comet. When the boats had been away a
certain time, the electric light was brought into play, its
beams sweeping the surface of the water, and in each
instance discovering the torpedo-boat before they could
lessen a mile's distance between themselves and the Comet.
Discovered at such a distance, their attack was considered,
of course, to have utterly failed. On another occasion she
came to an anchor in Stokes Bay, arid the light being
produced, it became evident that no boat could approach
within a mile without being discovered. One of the boats
was painted black and the other grey; the latter was
always much more prominently and longer in view under
the light than the black boat. In a boat 2000 yards dis-
tant from the Comet, and with the beam of light brought
to bear upon her, the Times could be read with the greatest
ease. Such a machine placed on board a ship of war would
be of inestimable value for other purposes, and the cost of
producing the light, exclusive of the driving power obtained
from the vessel's engine-room, is only 4d.per hour. The rapid

556 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

advance of science has produced all these formidable engines
of war of which I have been speaking, and it is to be hoped
will assist in counteracting their effects. Mere mechanical
inventions, it is evident, can do but little ; but, after all, much
must depend upon the vigilance, activity, and intelligence of
the officers and men employed on board our ships of war.

Many persons have begun to believe that the navy of
the future will consist of mastless turreted iron-clads, think-
ing only of the vessels best calculated to defend our own
shores; and they prophecy that stokers and pokers will
supersede the fine British tar of days gone by — forgetting
altogether our colonies and commerce. As other nations
possess iron-clads, we must possess them too, to defend the
coasts of England and any of our colonial ports or shores
which our foes are able to reach with their iron-clads ; but
as heavily-armed iron-clads cannot at the same time be fast
vessels, those of our foes are unlikely to get to any distant
region without being followed, and preparations made for
their reception. As far, therefore, as we can judge at pre-
sent, England will always require a fleet of fast-moving,
unarmoured, powerful vessels, frigates, and corvettes, which
can scour the ocean in all directions, follow and watch the
movements of any iron-clad squadron, and give due notice
of their approach, which may overpower the enemy's
cruisers of the same description, and convoy our merchant-
vessels from port to port. This class of vessels we shall
require in large numbers, fully-rigged ships, with powerful
auxiliary screws to be used in case of emergency ; but they
must be manned by active, able sailors, and therefore first-
rate seamanship will be required as much as ever. Our
sailing merchant-vessels would, of course, have a poor
chance of escaping the steamers of an enemy ; but, happily
for England, a large portion of our commerce is carried on
by fine steamers, most of them, at the same time, fast
vessels, which would be able to escape easily from any
iron-clads, and keep under the protection of such heavily-
armed frigates as would be sent to convoy them. The
navy of the future will therefore consist, I suspect, of huge
mastless turret-ships, armed with guns of 85 tons, or it may
be of 110 tons ; of strongly-armoured ships, also heavily

A NAVAL BATTLE OF THE FUTUBE. 557

armed, of the Monarch, Sultan, and Hercules class, capable
of going anywhere, and encountering any but Devastations
and Furies ; of rapidly-moving, strongly-built rams, of still
more nimble torpedo-vessels, and of vast numbers of gun-
boats— the most important and efficient portion being the
before-mentioned frigates and corvettes, which are likely to
prove, not only the most efficient, but to enjoy an existence
far more prolonged than their powerful sisters.

A naval engagement of the future must inevitably be a
fearful affair. We can imagine two hostile fleets approach-
ing— Inflexibles, Devastations, Thunderers, and Furies in
one line ; . Monarchs, Sultans, Herculeses, Iron Dukes,
Swiftsures, and Triumphs in another, and perhaps a
squadron of circular iron-clads, carrying each two or three
110-ton guns, with a host of light skirmishers, rams, and
torpedo-vessels. The huge guns begin to play when the
hostile fleets are still at a distance from each other.
Nearer and nearer they approach, still furiously firing
away ; every ram and torpedo-vessel of the enemy which
can be sunk will afford a better hope of victory. They
draw still closer ; each huge iron-clad endeavours to ram
her opponent or to swing her torpedo across her bows or
stern ; the torpedo-vessels are darting forward, careless of
the consequences to themselves, provided they can blow up
an opponent ; the rams are waiting an opportunity to rush
towards a foe distracted by the approach of an iron-clad or
endeavouring to avoid a torpedo; prodigious shot and
shells are filling the air, crushing in the sides of the
armour-clads ; and fish torpedoes are making their treach-
erous way beneath the surface into the bottoms of the
combatants; rams in eccentric courses are darting here
and there, while avoiding the torpedoes or enemy's rams,
looking for an opportunity of dashing into the side of an
opponent. Clouds of smoke every instant, as the battle
proceeds, growing denser and denser, fill the air, till it
puzzles the sharpest-sighted admiral to ascertain the fate
of his ships, while not a captain can distinguish one ship
from another, and finds that he is fiercely attacking with
ram or torpedo one of his friends, when he has been dili-
gently seeking a foe. In one respect a battle will be like

558 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

a game of chess or draughts, but there will be little hope
of capturing a foe ; each ship as she is overpowered will be
sunk, and one after the other will go down, till the pre-
ponderance in numbers of one party will be so great that
the lesser must yield, or submit to utter destruction. The
most desperate valour, the most active manoeuvring, could
not enable one ship engaged with another to escape the
rush even of a single ram, much less of two, or the approach
of a torpedo-vessel, or Harvey's floating torpedo. The
squadron, in other respects equal to the foe, which possesses
the greatest number of well-manoeuvred rams and torpedo-
vessels will in all probability gain the victory. It must be,
however, at a fearful sacrifice of life and the loss of many
ships. It is possible to conceive an action in which a
solitary ship alone may remain as the victor; it is very
possible, also, to conceive one terminating like the cele-
brated battle of the Kilkenny cats, in which the whole of
the combatants destroyed each other — the two last fighting
d I'outrance till both go down — but the bravery of the
bravest has a limit, and, in most instances, when all hope
of success has vanished, the weakest will be found ready
to yield. One thing appears certain, that a naval battle of
the future must prove fearfully destructive of life, if it
cannot be properly denominated bloody. Probably the
greater number of the lost would be destroyed by drowning,
and there will be few, if any, wounded survivors.

It may be asked why a ship cannot combine in herself
all the qualities necessary for engaging in battle and em-
ploying the various new engines of warfare ; why she should
not be so large as easily to carry the heaviest guns, be
shielded with the thickest armour as to resist the heaviest
shot or shell, the stroke of a ram or torpedo; why she
should not move with the greatest rapidity, keep the sea
in the fiercest storm, or proceed to the most distant regions.
In answer to this it may be said, that the qualities to enable
her to perform these different duties are of an incompatible
character. To carry any number of heavy guns she must
be of very large size, but sufficiently to cover a large ship
with armour, her weight is so increased that the hull is
unable to support more than a limited number of the

COMBINATION OF ALL REQUIRED QUALITIES IMPOSSIBLE. 559

heaviest guns. She thus must be long, and broad, and
deep, and by this increase of dimensions she loses her
turning power and handiness in manosuvring if she is
allowed to retain her sea-going qualities. For the same
reason, from her large size, she is unable to avoid the
attack of a ram, and though she herself is armed with one,
being incapable of turning rapidly, she cannot attack a
smaller vessel with any hope of success. Thus we see that
invulnerability at all points and supreme power of offence
would suppose the coexistence of two diametrically opposite
conditions, an increase and decrease in the size of a ship.
A properly-rigged ship will not be so nimble as one without
masts ; the former would also run the risk of having her
masts knocked away, when the rigging would probably foul
her screw, and though she could still fight her guns, she
would be unable to avoid the attacks of a ram or a torpedo.
The larger a ship the more powerful must be her engines,
to give her speed or the means of manoeuvring. It may be
understood therefore that the ram, to be efficient, must
possess ample engine-power, so that she can move and turn
rapidly. She would be more injurious to an antagonist if
she could also be heavily armoured and carry heavy
guns ; to do so, she must be rendered less effective as a
ram — indeed, many of the qualities which a perfect war-
ship should possess are utterly incompatible. Our naval
authorities have, for the last fifteen years, recognised the
importance of using the ram in warfare, and have accord-
ingly given spurs to all our armour-clad vessels. From
our present experience it seems evident that no ship can
possess sea-going qualities in combination with the most
thorough fighting powers — one or the other must be
sacrificed. As a writer on the subject observes : "Gun-power
will have reached its maximum only when it can penetrate
any thickness of armour-plating, and continue so to do
throughout an engagement. Armour-plating is only of
service when it efficiently protects the vessel carrying it ;
speed is only advantageous when it enables us to attack
an opponent suddenly, or to show him our heels, or for
ramming. In torpedo warfare, turning power is only really
useful in enabling us to avoid the. onsets of the enemy's

500 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

rams. The spur will only prove truly efficacious when the
vessels carrying it have the speed and turning power
requisite to give full effect to a weapon of this description."
Thus it will be seen that it is abolutely necessary to have
classes of ships with entirely different characters, the one
class possessing qualities which in the other are not required,
or only in a minor degree — -just as the army possesses
artillery, heavy and light cavalry, infantry of the line, and
sharpshooters. As the carrying capacities of our most
powerful sea-going ships are limited, we shall probably
require a fleet of colliers, as well as victuallers, which must
be able to move as fast as the ships they accompany, and
also have the means of avoiding an enemy ; if left astern,
a ram or two or a few torpedo vessels would quickly send
them to the bottom or compel them to supply a hostile I
fleet. I have said enough, however, to show the immense
difficulties with which the designers of our ships have to
contend — difficulties which in some instances experience
would overcome, but which will probably increase as new
inventions are brought into use. We who "sit at home at
ease" are bound to make due allowances both for those
engaged in constructing the navy of the future, as well as
for the officers and men to whom is confided the manage-
ment of the various complicated and truly dangerous
machines with which they are intrusted, to sustain the
honour and glory of England and to defend our native
shores, our colonies, and commerce, against the foes who
may rise up to attack us. Of one thing we may rest
certain, that the same spirit, the same indomitable courage
and readiness to sacrifice their lives in defence of their
country, exists among our officers and men in not less
proportion than it did before England was engaged in that

florious struggle with the world in arms against her for
er liberties and independence, the successful termination
of which secured for her that peace which has now endured,
with few interruptions, for more than half-a-century. That
peace it will be our wise policy to maintain while we can
do so with honour ; at the same time that we guard our-
selves by every means in our power against the assaults of
envious foes who may venture to attack us.
. *.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

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Full text of "A Popular history of the British Navy from the earliest times to the present"

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